Tape winding apparatus and tape winding method

ABSTRACT

To assure that a tape-shaped package is automatically wound around a reel, a tape winding apparatus includes a reel driving shaft having a reel fitted thereon, a tape-shaped package guide for guiding movement of a tape-shaped package from a pair of pinch rollers to the reel, and a guide driver for moving the tape-shaped package guide to positions including a first position adjacent the pinch rollers, a second position adjacent the reel, and a third position located between the first and second positions. In addition, the apparatus includes a seizing device, disposed on the tape-shaped package guide, for seizing the foremost end of the tape-shaped package.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/301,273,filed Sep. 6, 1994 (now abandoned).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tape winding apparatus for winding atape-shaped package around a reel. Further, the present inventionrelates to a tape winding method to be practiced in association with theforegoing type of tape winding apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the case that chip-like electronic components such as chip resistors,chip-like miniature mold transistors, chip-like miniature diodes or thelike are practically installed on a semiconductor substrate, a hithertoknown measure is usually taken such that these chip-like electroniccomponents are taken one by one from a tape-shaped package having themreceived therein in the equally spaced relationship as seen in thelongitudinal direction by actuating a manipulator, and subsequently,they are automatically mounted on the semiconductor substrate atpredetermined positions.

Generally, the tape-shaped package is composed of a plurality of pocketportions each having an electronic component received therein as a work,a carrier tape having one or two rows of perforations holes formedthereon in parallel to each other in the equally spaced relationship asseen in the longitudinal direction of the tape-shaped package, and acover tape thermally fused to the carrier tape for peelably covering thepocket portions therewith. A film molded of a synthetic resin and havinga plurality of pocket portions embossed thereon and a cardboard having aplurality of pocket portions punched therefrom are usually used as acarrier tape.

A tape-shaped package is continuously produced by operating a tapingmachine, and subsequently, it is wound around a reel disposed in a tapewinding apparatus after it is cut to assume a predetermined length. Theforemost end of the tape-shaped package is inserted into a tape insertslot formed through a hub core of the reel on the inner peripheral sideof the tape-shaped package. The carrier tape on the outer peripheralside of the tape-shaped package is cut to have a length shorter thanthat of the cover tape by a quantity of, e.g., about 200 mm. A part ofthe cover tape having a length more than that of the carrier tape isused as a leader portion when the tape-shaped package is applied to amounting machine on a production line. In addition, a measure is takensuch that an end tape or an end seal having excellent adhesiveness isfirmly connected to the terminal end part of the cover tape to serve asa leader portion in order to prevent the tape-shaped package from beingdisconnected from the reel in the unwounded state.

For example, a tape-shaped assembly winding method as disclosed inJapanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 63-123746, a mechanism forforming a leader portion for a taping tape corresponding to thetape-shaped package in the present invention, as disclosed in JapanesePatent Application Laying-Open No. 63-200993, and an automatic chip-typecomponent packaging tape (corresponding to the tape-shaped package inthe present invention) winding apparatus as disclosed in Japanese PatentApplication Laying-Open No. 4-239418 are hitherto known by experts inthe art in association with the tape winding apparatus for winding atape-shaped package around a reel as mentioned above.

The tape-shaped assembly winding method as disclosed in Japanese PatentApplication Laying-Open No. 63-123746 is practiced such that the foreend side of a sleeve-shaped product guide located in a reel, the baseend part of the product guide is expanded in the form of a trumpet, aguide portion is interposed between a trumpet-like opening portion ofthe product guide and a tape cutter, and the fore end part of thetape-shaped assembly cut by a tape cutter is fed into the trumpet-likeopening portion of the product guide from a guide portion.

The mechanism for forming a leader portion for a taping tape asdisclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 63-200993 isconstructed such that a second cutter section for cutting a carrier tapeis disposed downstream of a first cutter section for cutting atape-shaped package so that a part of the carrier tape downwardly bentafter completion of the cutting operation performed for tape-shapedpackage by the first cutter section is cut by the second cutter sectionfor forming a leader portion composed of a cover tape therewith.

Next, the automatic chip-type component packaging tape winding apparatusas disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 4-239418 isconstructed such that the foremost end of a movable type guide shoe isdisplaced in the radial direction of a reel corresponding to a quantityof winding of a chip-type component packaging tape around the reel, atape guiding portion is interposed between the movable guide shoe and acutter, and the foremost end of the chip-type component packaging tapeis delivered to the base end part of the movable type guide shoe fromthe tape guide portion.

As is generally known, a tape-shaped package fed from a taping machinehas problems that a carrier tape constituting the tape-shaped package isroll set, and moreover, the tape-shaped package itself is undesirablywarped due to the thermal strain arising therein after a cover tape isthermally fused to the carrier tape.

In the case that the tape-shaped assembly winding method as disclosed inJapanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 63-123746 is applied to atape winding operation, when the foremost end of the tape-shapedassembly is conveyed to the reel side, there is a possibility that theforemost end of the tape-shaped assembly is undesirably disconnectedfrom the guide portion in the course of the conveying operation,resulting in the foremost end of the tape-shaped assembly failing to beintroduced into the trumpet-like opening portion of the product guide.Similarly, in the case that the automatic chip-type component packagingtape winding apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent ApplicationLaying-Open No. 4-239418 is likewise applied to a tape windingoperation, a thrusting roller and a turnable pawl portion areadditionally attached to the tape guiding portion in order to preventthe chip-type component packaging tape from falling down from the tapeguiding portion. However, once the chip-type component packaging tape isroll set, and moreover, the tip tape is thermally warped due to theinner strain arising therein at the time of a thermal fusing operation,it becomes difficult to reliably deliver the foremost end of thechip-type component packaging tape to the base end part of the movableguide shoe.

As far as the conventional tape winding apparatus as mentioned above isconcerned, there often arises an occasion that the position assumed byeach of tape insert slots formed through a hub core of the reel largelyvaries from reel maker to reel maker or the foregoing position slightlyvaries from reel maker to reel maker. For this reason, an insertingoperation for inserting the foremost end of the tape-shaped package intoone of tape insert slots should be achieved with an operator's hand.Consequently, an automatic tape winding operation can not continuouslybe performed with the conventional tape winding operation.

On the other hand, with respect to the mechanism for forming a leaderportion for a taping tape as disclosed in Japanese Patent ApplicationLaying-Open No. 63-200993, only the leader portion having a lengthcorresponding to a distance between a pair of cutter portions disposedin the direction of conveyance of the taping tape while extending inparallel with each other can be formed. Thus, when the foregoingmechanism is applied to an actual machine which requires a leaderportion having a comparatively long length, there arises a necessity forenlarging the distance between the pair of cutter portions, resulting inthe whole structure of the tape winding apparatus being unavoidablydesigned with large dimensions. Such a malfunction as mentioned abovelikewise occurs with the automatic chip-type component packaging tapewinding apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent ApplicationLaying-Open No. 4-239418.

To assure that the leader portion is wound around the reel after it isformed, a measure is taken such that an end seal having excellentadhesiveness is adhesively secured to the terminal end of the leaderportion in order to prevent the tape-shaped package from being unwoundfrom the reel. With respect to the conventional automatic chip componentpackaging tape winding apparatus as mentioned above, since the terminalend of the leader portion is not restrictively held, there is apossibility that when an end seal is adhesively secured to the terminalend of the leader portion, the terminal end of the leader portion isvibratively displaced, causing the end seal to adhere to one of flangeportions of the reel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in consideration of theaforementioned background.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a tape windingapparatus which assures that the foremost end of a tape-shaped packagehaving any roll set or thermal warpage arising in the tape-shapedpackage during a winding operation performed for the tape-shaped packagecan reliably be delivered to the interior of a reel, and moreover,assures that the foremost end of the tape-shaped package canautomatically be inserted into one of tape insert slots formed through ahub core of each reel molded in conformity with a different dimensionalstandard.

A secondary object of the present invention is to provide a tape windingapparatus which is simple in structure, and moreover, assures that aleader portion having an arbitrary length can be formed with atape-shaped package of the foregoing type.

A thirdly object of the present invention is to provide a tape windingmethod which assures that a leader portion having an arbitrary lengthcan be formed with a tape-shaped package of the foregoing type.

A fourthly object of the present invention is to provide a tape windingapparatus which assures that the terminal end of a leader portion canexactly be wound around a reel together with an end seal usable for atape-shaped package of the foregoing type.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda tape winding apparatus for winding a tape-shaped package around areel, the tape-shaped package being composed of a carrier tape having aplurality of pocket portions for receiving works therein formed in theequally spaced relationship as seen in the longitudinal direction of thetape-shaped package and a cover tape connected to the carrier tape inthe face-to-face relationship for covering the pocket portionstherewith, wherein the tape winding apparatus comprises a reel drivingshaft having a reel for winding the tape-shaped package therearounddetachably fitted thereonto; a pair of pinch rollers for delivering thetape-shaped package toward the reel driving shaft; a tape-shaped packageguiding slider for guiding the movement of the tape-shaped package fromthe pinch roller side to the reel driving shaft side, the tape-shapedpackage guiding slider being capable of reciprocably moving between thepair of pinch rollers and an empty reel fitted onto the reel drivingshaft; slider driving means for driving the tape-shaped package guidingslider to a predetermined stop position; and a tape-shape packageforemost end seizing means disposed on the tape-shaped package guidingslider for seizing the foremost end of the tape-shaped packagetherewith; whereby the predetermined stop position to be assumed by thetape-shaped package guiding slider is one of a tape-shaped packagereceiving stop position located in the vicinity of the pair of pinchrollers for receiving the foremost end of the tape-shaped packagedelivered from the pair of pinch rollers, a tape-shaped packagedelivering stop position located in the vicinity of the reel drivingshaft for delivering the foremost end of the tape-shaped package to theempty reel fitted onto the reel driving shaft, and a tape-shaped packageguiding stop position located between the tape-shaped package receivingstop position and the tape-shaped package delivering stop position forguiding the movement of the tape-shaped package from the pair of pinchrollers to the reel driving shaft side during a winding operationperformed for winding the tape-shaped package around the empty reel byrotating the reel driving shaft.

In the case that the tape winding apparatus is constructed according tothe first aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that thetape winding apparatus further includes tape insert slot detecting meansfor detecting one of tape insert slots formed through a hub core of thereel fitted onto the reel driving shaft so as to allow the foremost endof the tape-shaped package to be inserted thereinto and reel drivingshaft controlling means for properly controlling the position where therotation of the reel driving shaft is to be stopped, so as to allow thetape insert slot to be indexed to a predetermined rotational position onthe hub core in response to a detection signal outputted from the tapeinsert slot detecting means.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an empty reel isfirst fitted onto the reel driving shaft, and subsequently, one of thetape insert slots formed through the hub core of the reel is indexed toa predetermined rotational position on the hub core of the reel byactivating the reel driving shaft controlling means in response to adetection signal outputted from the insert slot detecting means. On theother hand, as the slider driving means is actuated, the tape-shapedpackage guiding slider is displaced to the tape-shaped package receivingstop position from which the foremost end of the tape-shaped package isdelivered toward the tape-shaped package guiding slider side by the pairof pinch rollers. At this time, the foremost end of the tape-shapedpackage is seized on the tape-shaped package guiding slider by actuatingtape-shaped package foremost end seizing means.

While the foremost end of the tape-shaped package is seized by thetape-shaped package foremost end seizing means, the tape-shaped packageguiding slider is displaced to the tape-shaped package delivering stopposition by actuating the slider driving means. Subsequently, after theforemost end of the tape-shaped package is released from the seizedstate attained by the tape-shaped package foremost end seizing means,the foremost end of the tape-shaped package is inserted into one of thetape insert slots formed through the hub core of the reel held in thestandby state. In addition, the reel driving shaft is rotated togetherwith the reel in synchronization with the rotation of the pinch rollersat a low speed by several revolutions with the aid of the reel drivingshaft controlling means, causing the foremost end of the tape-shapedpackage to be wound around the reel by several turns. Thereafter, thetape-shaped package guiding slider is escapably displaced to thetape-shaped guiding slider stop position by actuating the slider drivingmeans.

Subsequently, the reel is rotated together with the reel driving shaftat a high speed by activating the reel driving shaft controlling meansso that the tape-shaped package is wound around the reel while themovement of the tape-shaped package is properly guided by thetape-shaped package guiding slider.

Therefore, the foremost end of the tape-shaped package can be deliveredto the interior of the reel regardless of any roll set or thermalwarpage arising on the tape-shaped package during a winding operationperformed for the latter. In addition, the foremost end of thetape-shaped package can automatically be inserted into one of the tapeinsert slots formed through the hub core of each reel molded inconformity of a different dimensional standard.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda tape winding apparatus for winding a tape-shaped package around areel, the tape-shaped package being composed of a carrier tape having aplurality of pocket portions for receiving works therein formed in theequally spaced relationship as seen in the longitudinal direction of thetape-shaped package and a cover tape connected to the carrier tape inthe face-to-face relationship for covering the pocket portionstherewith, wherein the tape winding apparatus comprises a reel drivingshaft having a reel for winding the tape-shaped package therearounddetachably fitted thereonto; a pair of pinch rollers for delivering thetape-shaped package toward the reel driving shaft; cover tape suckingmeans disposed between the pair of pinch rollers and the reel drivingshaft for holding the cover tape in the sucked state; a carrier tapecutter disposed on the opposite side relative to the cover tape suckingmeans with the tape-shaped package interposed therebetween, the carriertape cutter being reciprocably displaced in the direction toward andaway from the tape-shaped package; a tape-shaped package cutter disposedopposite to the carrier tape cutter with the tape-shaped packageinterposed therebetween, the tape-shaped package cutter beingreciprocably displaced in the direction toward and away from the carriertape cutter; a tape thrusting cylinder disposed sideward of the carriertape cutter for thrusting the carrier tape toward the tape-shapedpackage cutter side; and a cutter receiver adapted to be insertedbetween the carrier tape of the tape-shaped package and the cover tapeof the same for cutting the carrier tape by actuating the carrier tapecutter, and moreover, cutting the tape-shaped package by actuating thetape-shaped package cutter.

With the tape winding apparatus constructed according to the secondaspect of the present invention, when the tape-shaped package is woundaround the reel fitted onto the reel driving shaft by a predeterminedlength, the rotational speed of the pinch rollers is increased to assumea value higher than that of the reel driving shaft, whereby a part ofthe tape-shaped package is held in the loosened state between the pinchrollers and the reel fitted onto the reel driving shaft. When the covertape is sucked by actuating the cover tape sucking means, a gap isformed between the cover tape and the carrier tape. Subsequently, thecutter receiver is inserted into this gap so that the carrier tapeinterposed between the cutter receiver and the carrier tape cutter iscut by actuating the carrier tape cutter. At this time, since the reeldriving shaft is continuously rotated, a part of the cover tape whichshould serve as a leader portion is wound around the reel.

When the leader portion having a predetermined length is formed with thetape-shaped package, the cutter receiver is escapably retracted, andthereafter, the carrier tape is thrusted toward the tape-shaped packagecutter by actuating a tape thrusting cylinder. While the foregoing stateis maintained, the cutter receiver is projected so that the cutterreceiver and the tape-shaped package cutter face each other with thecarrier tape between, and thereafter, the cover tape and the carriertape located between the tape-shaped package cutter and the cutterreceiver are cut by actuating the tape-shaped cutter, resulting in theterminal end of the leader portion to be wound around the reel beingformed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda tape winding apparatus for winding a tape-shaped package around areel, the tape-shaped package being composed of a carrier tape having aplurality of pocket portions for receiving works therein formed in theequally spaced relationship as seen in the longitudinal direction of thetape-shaped package and a cover tape connected to the carrier tape inthe face-to-face relationship for covering the pocket portionstherewith, wherein the tape winding apparatus comprises a reel drivingshaft having a reel for winding the tape-shaped package therearounddetachably fitted thereonto; a pair of pinch rollers for delivering thetape-shaped package toward the reel driving shaft; cover tape suckingmeans disposed between the pair of pinch rollers and the reel drivingshaft, the cover tape sucking means being capable of holding the covertape in the sucked state; a carrier tape cutter disposed on the oppositeside relative to the cover tape sucking means with the tape-shapedpackage interposed therebetween, the carrier tape cutter beingreciprocably displaced in the direction toward and away from thetape-shaped package; a cover tape cutter disposed opposite to thecarrier tape cutter with the tape-shaped package interposedtherebetween, the cover tape cutter being reciprocably displaced in thedirection toward and away from the carrier tape cutter; and a cutterreceiver adapted to be inserted between the carrier tape of thetape-shaped package and the cover tape of the same for cutting thecarrier tape by actuating the carrier tape cutter, and moreover, cuttingthe cover tape by actuating the cover tape cutter.

In addition, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention,there is provided a tape winding method of winding a tape-shaped packagearound a reel, the tape-shaped package being composed of a carrier tapehaving a plurality of pocket portions for receiving works therein formedin the equally spaced relationship as seen in the longitudinal directionof the tape-shaped package and a cover tape connected to the carriertape in the face-to-face relationship for covering the pocket portionstherewith wherein a leader portion composed merely of the cover tape isformed at the terminal end of the tape-shaped package when the latter iswound around the reel, wherein the tape winding method comprises a stepof setting a speed of delivering the tape-shaped package to the reel tobe higher than a speed of winding the tape-shaped package around thereel; a step of forming a gap between the cover tape and the carriertape by sucking the cover tape; a step of inserting a cutter receiverinto the gap between the cover tape and the carrier tape; a step ofcutting the carrier tape by utilizing the cutter receiver; a step ofwinding the cover tape around the reel by a predetermined length so asto allow a part of the cover tape to serve as a leader portion; and astep of cutting the cover tape together with the carrier tape byutilizing the cutter receiver interposed therebetween.

According to the third aspect and the fourth aspect of the presentinvention, when a leader portion having a predetermined length is to beformed with a part of the tape-shaped package, the carrier tape cutterand the cover tape cutter are actuated, causing the cover tape and thecarrier tape located between these cutters and the cutter receiver to becut, resulting in the terminal end of the leader portion to be woundaround the reel being formed with the tape-shaped package.

Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a tape winding apparatus for winding a tape-shaped package anda leader portion around a reel, the tape-shaped package being composedof a carrier tape having a plurality of pocket portions for receivingworks therein formed therein in the equally spaced relationship as seenin the longitudinal direction of the tape-shaped package for coveringthe pocket portions therewith, and the leader portion being connected tothe terminal end of the tape-shaped package, wherein the tape windingapparatus comprises a reel driving shaft having a reel for winding thetape-shaped package and the leader portion therearound detachably fittedthereonto; means for connecting an end seal to the terminal end of theleader portion; a turn arm located on the upper side of the reel havingthe reel driving shaft fitted thereinto, the base end of the turn armbeing turnably fitted onto a pivotal shaft extending in parallel withthe reel driving shaft; a retaining roller rotatably fitted to theforemost end of the turn arm, the retaining roller coming in rollingcontact with the tape-shaped package, the leader portion and the endseal; and sucking means for sucking the leader portion and the end seal,the sucking means being kept open on the reel side of the turn arm.

With the tape winding apparatus constructed according to the fifthaspect of the present invention, the retaining roller is normally biasedtoward the reel driving shaft side by the dead weight of the turn armand the retaining roller in such a manner as to turn about the pivotalshaft fitted to the base end of the turn arm, causing the leader portionto be thrusted toward the inside of the reel. At this time, the suckingmeans is actuated to firmly hold the leader portion by the air suctionforce without any vibrative movement of the leader portion. Since theend seal adheres to the terminal end of the leader portion with the aidof end seal connecting means while the foregoing state is maintained,the end seal can reliably adhesively be connected to the leader portionor the tape-shaped package wound around the reel.

Additionally, according to the second aspect to the fifth aspect of thepresent invention, a leader portion having an arbitrary length can beformed with the tape winding apparatus constructed in theabove-described manner. Since the tape-shaped package cutter or thecover tape cutter is disposed opposite to the carrier tape cutter withthe cutter receiver interposed therebetween, there does not arise anecessity for elongating a conveyance path for the tape-shaped packageregardless of the length of the leader portion, resulting in the wholestructure of the tape winding apparatus being designed with smalldimensions. Further, since the sucking means for sucking the leaderportion and the end seal is disposed on the lower surface side of theturn arm adapted to hold the tape retaining roller, causing the leaderportion wound around the reel to be retained by the tape retainingroller, the terminal end of the leader portion and the end seal canreliably be wound around the reel.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from reading of the following descriptionwhich has been made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated in the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a tape winding apparatus constructed inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention based on a firstaspect of the latter;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the tape winding apparatus shown in FIG. 1 asseen from the right-hand side of the latter;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view which schematically shows the contour of atape-shaped package employable for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged front view of a dancer unit arrangedfor the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the dancer unit taken along line 5--5 inFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of a pin roller section arranged forthe tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the pin roller section taken along line7--7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of the pin rollersection represented by an arrow-shaped mark of 8 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a guide member arranged for the tapewinding apparatus;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged front view of a pinch roller section arranged forthe tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the pinch roller section taken along line11--11 in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of a tape-shaped package cuttingunit arranged for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged rear view of a tape-shaped package foremost endguiding unit arranged for the tape winding apparatus as seen from theinside of an upper casing of the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the tape-shaped package foremost endguiding unit taken along line 14--14 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged sectional view of a carrier tape cutting unitarranged for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged sectional view of a tape-shaped package guidingarm section arranged for the tape-shaped package foremost end guidingunit shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged sectional view of a reel driving shaft sectionarranged for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged front view of a reel indexing unit arranged forthe tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 19 is a plan view of the reel indexing unit shown in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is an enlarged front view of an end seal feeding unit arrangedfor the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 21 is a sectional view of a driving mechanism for the end sealfeeding unit shown in FIG. 20, showing the developed state of thedriving mechanism;

FIG. 22 is a sectional view of a tape retaining roller section for theend seal feeding unit shown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 23 is an enlarged sectional view of a reel attaching/detaching unitarranged for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 24 is an exploded plan view of a reel feeding/discharging unitarranged for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 25 is a sectional view of the reel feeding/discharging unit takenalong line 25--25 in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a sectional view of the reel feeding/discharging unit takenalong line 26--26 in FIG. 24;

FIG. 27 is a front view of a tape winding apparatus constructed inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention based on asecond aspect of the latter in association with a fourth aspect of thesame;

FIG. 28 is an enlarged front view of an upper casing of the tape windingapparatus shown in FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is an enlarged front view of a tape cutting unit arranged forthe tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 30 is a side view of the tape cutting unit as seen from theright-hand side in FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is a plan view of a tape-shaped package foremost end guidingunit arranged for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 32 is a front view of a driving mechanism for the tape-shapedpackage foremost end guiding unit shown in FIG. 31;

FIG. 33 is a sectional view of the driving mechanism taken along line33--33 in FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a sectional view of the driving mechanism taken along line34--34 in FIG. 32;

FIG. 35 is an enlarged sectional view of a reel driving shaft sectionarranged for the tape winding apparatus;

FIG. 36 is an exploded front view of a reel fitted onto the reel drivingshaft, showing the inner structure of the reel;

FIG. 37 is an enlarged front view of a tape retaining roller sectionarranged for the tape winding apparatus; and

FIG. 38 is a sectional view of the tape retaining roller section takenalong line 38--38 in FIG. 37.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferredembodiments thereof.

First, a tape winding apparatus constructed in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention based on a first aspect of thelatter will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 1 toFIG. 26 wherein a tape-shaped package having a plurality ofsemiconductor chip components received therein is used for the tapewinding apparatus.

As is apparent from FIG. 1 which shows by way of front view the contourof the whole structure of the tape winding apparatus and FIG. 2 whichshows by way of side view the contour of the tape winding apparatus asseen from the right-hand side in FIG. 1, the tape winding apparatusincludes a lower casing 106 which is mounted on a floor surface 104 withthe aid of four expansible/contractible feet 102 each having a caster100 attached thereto, and a control panel 108 and an upper casing 110are arranged on the lower casing 106. A start switch, a stop switch,various kinds of alarm lamps, a display unit and a counter (each ofwhich is not shown in the drawings) are arranged on the control panel108 for properly operating the tape winding apparatus. With thisconstruction, the tape winding apparatus can automatically be operatedby actuating these switches with an operator's hand in order to assurethat a tape-shaped package 112 fed from a taping machine (not shown) issuccessively wound around an empty reel 116 fitted onto a reel drivingshaft 114.

First, the empty reel 116 is fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114 andone of tape insert slots 120 (see FIG. 18) formed through a hub core 118of the empty reel 116 is then indexed to a predetermined position.Subsequently, the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 isinserted into the tape insert slot 120 formed through the hub core 118of the empty reel 116, and the tape-shaped package 112 is then woundaround the reel 116 by a predetermined length by rotationally drivingthe reel driving shaft 114. On completion of the winding operation, aleader portion 122 (see FIG. 3) is formed on the terminal end of thetape-shaped package 112, and after an end seal 124 is adhesivelyconnected to the terminal end of the leader portion 122, the reel 116 isdetached from the reel driving shaft 114, and thereafter, a next windingoperation is performed again from the beginning.

In this embodiment, to assure that a series of operations as mentionedabove are automatically repeated, a pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128provide a first guide for feeding the foremost end of the tape-shapedpackage 112 toward the reel driving shaft 114, a tape-shaped packageguide or, in other words, a tape-shaped package foremost end guidingunit 130 provide a second guide for conducting the tape-shaped package112 discharged from the pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128 to the emptyreel 116 fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114 while seizing theforemost end of the tape-shaped package 112 therewith, a tape-shapedpackage cutting unit 132 located between the pair of pinch rollers 126and 128 and the tape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit 130 to cutthe tape-shaped package 112 therewith, a carrier tape cutting unit 136for cutting only a carrier tape 134 of the tape-shaped package 112 toform a leader portion 122 with the cut part of the carrier tape 134, anend seal feeding unit 138 for connecting an end seal 124 to the terminalend of the leader portion 122, a reel attaching/detaching unit 140 forattaching the reel 116 to the reel driving shaft 114 and detaching theformer from the latter (see FIG. 17), and a reel chip components unit142 for indexing one of the tape insert slots 120 formed through the hubcore 118 of the reel 116 to a predetermined position are arranged in theupper casing 110. In addition, a reel receiving/delivering unit 144 fordelivering an empty reel 116 to the reel driving shaft 114 and receivingthe reel 116 having a tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound from thereel driving shaft 114 (see FIG. 23) and a reel delivering/dischargingunit 146 for delivering an empty reel 116 to the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 and receiving the reel 116 having atape-shaped package 112 wound therearound from the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 (see FIG. 24) are firmly arranged in thelower casing 106. Additionally, a dancer unit 148 for temporarilystorably holding the fore end side of the tape-shaped package 112delivered from the taping machine is arranged within the range extendingbetween the upper casing 110 and the lower casing 106.

The taping machine installed for producing a tape-shaped package 112 isequipped with a chip component inserting mechanism (not shown) forsuccessively receiving semiconductor chip components 152 in a series ofpocket portions 150 formed on a carrier tape 134 one by one and a tapeconnecting mechanism (not shown) for thermally fusing a cover tape 154to the carrier tape 134 having the semiconductor chip components 152received in the pocket portions 150 thereof as shown in FIG. 3 whichschematically illustrates the structure of the tape-shaped package 112.The chip component inserting mechanism is constructed such thatsemiconductor chip components 152 are received in the pocket portions150 on the carrier tape 134, and after a predetermined number ofsemiconductor chip components 152 are successively received in thepocket portions 150, a predetermined number of empty pocket portions 150having no semiconductor chip components received therein are formed onthe carrier tape 134. In addition, the tape connecting mechanism isconstructed such that the cover tape 154 is thermally fused to a part ofthe carrier tape 134 having semiconductor chip components 152 receivedin the pocket portions 150 thereof and a part of the cover tape 154 isused as a leader portion 122 by forming a non-fusing part on the covertape 154 without any thermal fusion of the latter to the empty pocketportions 150.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 that is a fragmentary enlarged front view ofthe dancer unit 148 and FIG. 5 that is a sectional view of the dancerunit 148 taken along line 5--5 in FIG. 4, a slider 164 having two tapeguide rollers 160 and 162 rotatably held thereon to rotate about theirhorizontal shafts is slidably fitted onto a guide rod 158 supported by apair of upper and lower rod holders 156 fixedly secured to the side wallportion of the upper casing 110 at the upper end of the latter as wellas the side wall portion of the lower casing 106 at the lower end of thelatter in such a manner as to allow the slider 164 to be slidably raisedup and lowered along the guide rod 158 in the upward/downward direction.To prevent the slider 164 from being turned in the horizontal direction,a slide turning movement preventive pin 168 threadably fixed to theslider 164 is slidably received in the substantially U-shaped groove ofa slider turning movement preventive member 166 firmly secured to theupper casing 110 and the lower casing 106 while extending in parallelwith the guide rod 158 in the spaced relationship.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, four slider position detecting sensors170, 172, 174 and 176 located in the order as seen from below aredisposed sideward of the slider turning movement preventive member 166corresponding to a highest winding speed, a high winding speed, a lowwinding speed and a lowest winding speed, and the base end of a dogplate 178 adapted to cooperate with the slider position detectingsensors 170, 172, 174 and 176 is fixedly secured to the slider 164. Inresponse to a detection signal outputted from each of the sliderposition detecting sensors 170, 172, 174 and 176, the winding speed ofthe tape-shaped package 112 set by the reel driving shaft 114 isautomatically changed by controlling unit (not shown).

Specifically, in the case that the slider position detecting sensor 170detects the position of the slider 164 corresponding to a highestwinding speed, the winding speed of the tape-shaped package 112 isincreased to reach a preliminarily determined highest speed, causing theposition of the slider 164 to be quickly raised up. In addition, in thecase that the slider position detecting sensor 172 detects the positionof the slider 164 corresponding to a high winding speed, the windingspeed of the tape-shaped package 112 is increased to reach apreliminarily determined high speed, causing the position of the slider164 to be correspondingly raised up. Additionally, in the case that theslider position detecting sensor 174 detects the position of the slider164 corresponding to a low winding speed, the winding speed of thetape-shaped package 112 is reduced to assume a preliminarily determinedlow speed, causing the position of the slider 164 to be correspondinglylowered. Further, in the case that the slider position detecting sensor176 detects the position of the slider 164 corresponding to a lowestwinding speed, the winding speed of the tape-shaped package 112 isreduced to assume a preliminarily determined lowest speed, causing theposition of the slider 164 to be quickly lowered.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 that is an enlarged frontview of a pin roller 186 arranged at the left upper end part of theupper casing 110, FIG. 7 that is an enlarged sectional view of the pinroller 186 taken along line 7--7 in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8 that is anenlarged sectional view of a section represented by an arrow-shaped markof 8 in FIG. 7, the pin roller 186 is disposed slantwise downward of atape-shaped package introduction pulley 646 which is rotatably disposedat the left uppermost end of the upper casing 110, and a number of pins182 arranged in the equally spaced relationship as seen in thecircumferential direction of the pin roller 186 so as to be brought inmeshing engagement with a plurality of perforation holes 180 formedthrough the tape-shaped package 112 (see FIG. 3) are radially projectedfrom the pin roller 186 with the aid of a plurality of set screws 184.In addition, a rotary encoder 188 is disposed integral with the pinroller 186 in the coaxial relationship relative to the latter in orderto detect the length of passage of the tape-shaped package 112 past thepin roller 182, i.e., the length of the tape-shaped package 112 woundaround the reel 116.

In this embodiment, the pins 186 on the pin roller 186 are brought inmeshing engagement with the perforation holes 180 formed through thetape-shaped package 112 in the equally spaced relationship in order todetect the length of passage of the tape-shaped package 112 by utilizingthe followable rotary movement of the pin roller 186 caused as thetape-shaped package 112 moves in the forward direction. Alternatively, apair of light permeation type optical sensors having the perforationholes 180 interposed therebetween may be substituted for the pin roller186. In this case, the length of passage of the tape-shaped package 112is detected by counting a series of pulse-like detection signals eachoutputted every time the optical sensors detect one perforation hole 180without any necessity for coming in contact with the perforation hole180.

To assure that the tape-shaped package 112 is properly conducted fromthe package introduction pulley 646 to a pair of pinch rollers 126 and128 to be described later, a stationary guide member 196 having a guideportion 194 formed thereon to slidably hold the right-hand end of thetape-shaped package 112 therewith and a movable guide member 198 capableof moving toward or away from the stationary guide member 196 (i.e., inthe rightward/leftward direction as seen in FIG. 7) corresponding to thewidth of the tape-shaped package 112 are mounted on an inverted L-shapedbracket 192 fixedly secured to the upper casing 110 by using bolts 190.

As is apparent from FIG. 9 which shows by way of perspective view theappearance of both the guide members 196 and 198, to assure that themovable guide member 198 can be displaced toward or away from thestationary guide member 196 with the aid of two bolts 200 threadablyfitted to the bracket 192, a pair of elongated holes 202 are formedthrough the movable guide member 198 so as to allow a series of pocketportions 150 on the tape-shaped package 112 to move past a gap 204formed between the stationary guide member 196 and the movable guidemember 198. A relief groove 208 is formed at the central part of a guideportion 206 of the movable guide member 198 usable for slidably holdingthe left-hand end of the tape-shaped package 112 in order to allow thepins 182 on the pin roller 186 to be successively received in the reliefgroove 208. With this construction, when the tape-shaped package 112moves between the pin roller 186 and both the guide members 196 and 198,the fore end part of each pin 182 on the pin roller 186 is fitted intoone perforation hole 180 formed through the tape-shaped package 112,whereby as the tape-shaped package 112 moves in the forward direction,the pin roller 186 is followably rotated so as to enable a quantity ofmovement of the tape-shaped package 112 to be detected by the rotaryencoder 188.

As is apparent from FIG. 10 that is an enlarged front view of a pair ofpinch rollers 126 and 128 and FIG. 11 that is a sectional view of thepinch rollers 126 and 128 taken along line 11--11 in FIG. 10, a pinchroller driving shaft 212, of which fore end part is projected outside ofthe upper casing 110, is rotatably supported by a pair of bearings 214in a cylindrical holder 210 fixedly secured to the rear surface of theupper casing 110. A pair of driving pinch rollers 126a and 126b adaptedto hold the opposite sides of the tape-shaped package 112 with thepocket portion 150 on the tape-shaped package 112 interposedtherebetween are fitted onto the fore end part of the pinch rollerdriving shaft 212, and the driving pinch roller 126a located outside ofthe driving pinch roller 126b can immovably be held on the pinch rollerdriving shaft 212 at an arbitrary position determined corresponding tothe width of the tape-shaped package 112 as seen in the longitudinaldirection of the pinch roller driving shaft 212 by tightening a setscrew 216. A pinch roller driving motor 218 for rotationally driving thepinch roller driving shaft 212 is attached to a frame 220 in the uppercasing 110 via a speed reducing unit 222, and an endless toothed belt232 is bridged between a driving gear 226 integrated with an outputshaft 224 of the speed reducing unit 222 and an idling gear 230rotatably fitted onto the pinch roller driving shaft 212 via bearings228 while extending around the driving gear 226 and the idling gear 230.

An electromagnetic clutch 234 is interposed between the idling gear 230and the upper casing 110. In this embodiment, the electromagnetic clutch234 is substantially composed of a spline sleeve 236 integrated with theidling gear 230, an armature 238 slidably fitted onto the spline sleeve236 to slidably move on the latter, a frictional plate 240 integrallyfitted onto the pinch roller shaft 212, a compression coil spring 242interposed between the spline sleeve 236 and the armature 238 fornormally biasing the armature 238 toward the frictional plate 240, and acoil block 244 for magnetizing the frictional plate 240 for biasing thearmature 238 toward the idling gear 230 by the magnetic force againstthe resilient force of the compression coil spring 242. The coil block244 having the pinch roller driving shaft 212 surrounded thereby withbearings 246 interposed therebetween is held by a coil holder 248fixedly secured to the upper casing 110 at the left-hand end thereof.

Thus, when the coil block 244 is turned off, the armature 238 isthrusted against the frictional plate 240 by the resilient force of thecompression coil spring 242 so that the rotational force of the pinchroller driving motor 218 is transmitted from the frictional plate 240 tothe pinch roller driving shaft 212 by the frictional force arisingbetween the armature 238 and the frictional plate 240, via the endlesstoothed belt 232, the spline sleeve 236 integrated with the idling gear230 and the armature 238. On the contrary, when the coil block 244 isturned on, the armature 238 is parted away from the frictional plate 240by the magnetic force generated by the coil block 244 against theresilient force of the compression coil spring 242. Thus, the rotationalforce of the pinch roller driving motor 218 is transmitted only to thespline sleeve 236 integrated with the idling gear 230 and the armature238 via the endless toothed belt 232, resulting in the spline sleeve 236and the armature 238 being idly rotated relative to the pinch rollerdriving shaft 212.

The electromagnetic clutch 234 is held in the inoperative state that itis turned off until the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 isseized by the tape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit 130 locatedat the position where the receipt of the package to be described lateris stopped. In addition, the electromagnetic clutch 234 is held also inthe inoperative state that it is turned off when the reel driving shaft114 is rotated at a low speed so as to allow the fore end part of thetape-shaped package 112 to be wound around the hub core 118 of the reel116 while the package foremost end guiding unit 130 is located at theposition where the delivery of the tape-shaped package is stopped. Whilethe foregoing state is maintained, the rotational force of the pinchroller driving motor 218 is transmitted to the pinch roller 126a.However, the electromagnetic clutch 234 is held in the operative statethat it is turned on for a period of time other than the aforementionedone.

On the other hand, a turn shaft holding sleeve 250 is fixedly secured tothe upper casing 110 in the vicinity of a bearing holder 210 so that aturn shaft 252 extending through the upper casing 110 in parallel withthe pinch roller driving shaft 212 is rotatably supported in the turnshaft holding sleeve 250. The upper end part of a turn arm 254 is firmlyfitted onto the turn shaft 252 at the left-hand end of the latter asseen in FIG. 11, and a roller holding shaft 256 is projected from thelower end part of the turn arm 254 in parallel with the pinch rollerdriving shaft 212. An idling pinch roller 128 is rotatably supported onthe roller holding shaft 256 while facing to the pair of driving pinchrollers 126a and 126b with the tape-shaped package 112 interposedtherebetween in the clamped state. A tension pin 260 is projected fromthe rear surface of the upper casing 110 at the position above the turnshaft 252, and an adjustment screw shaft 262 is threadably insertedthrough the tension pin 260 with a pair of lock nuts 264 located on theopposite sides of the tension pin 260. As the lock nuts 264 arethreadably tightened from the opposite sides of the tension pin 260, thetension pin 260 is immovably held on the adjustment screw shaft 262while building an integral structure with the adjustment screw shaft262. A tension coil spring 268 is bridged between the left-hand end ofthe adjustment screw shaft 262 and a circular disc-shaped tension ring266 immovably fitted onto the turn shaft 252 at the left-hand end of thelatter in order to normally bias the idling pinch roller 128 toward thedriving pinch rollers 126a and 126b.

With this construction, the idling pinch roller 128 is normally biasedtoward the driving pinch rollers 126a and 126b by the resilient force ofthe tension coil spring 268, whereby as the driving pinch rollers 126aand 126b are rotationally driven, the tape-shaped package 112 heldbetween both the driving pinch rollers 126a and 126b in the clampedstate is slantwise downward conveyed in the rightward direction as seenin FIG. 1. It is obvious that the resilient force of the tension coilspring 268 can arbitrarily be changed by adequately adjusting theposition where the lock nuts 264 are threadably fitted onto theadjustment screw shaft 262.

A tape-shaped package cutting unit 132 is arranged at the positionslantwise downward of the pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128. FIG. 12shows by way of an enlarged sectional view the structure of the packagecutting unit 132.

Specifically, a knife driving air cylinder 270 is arranged on the rearsurface of the upper casing 110 via a bracket 272 fastened to the latterwith a downward attitude, and the left-hand end part of a rod holder 276extending through the upper casing 110 is connected to the lower end ofa piston rod 274 extending through the knife driving air cylinder 270.In addition, the lower end of a cutter rod 280 slidably held by a pairof guide bushes 278 fastened to the front surface of the upper casing110 is firmly connected to the right-hand end part of the rod holder276. A cutter holder 282 is secured to the lower end of the cutter rod280, and a cutter knife 284 is firmly attached to the cutter holder 282in order to cut the tape-shaped package 112 therewith. A plate-shapedknife receiver 286 adapted to be projected from the rear side of theupper casing 110 is slidably held relative to a knife receiver holder288 fastened to the rear surface of the upper casing 110 directly belowthe cutter knife 284 in such a manner as to slidably move in the normaldirection relative to the upper casing 110 (i.e., in therightward/leftward direction as seen in FIG. 13). The foremost end of apiston rod 294 projected from the holder driving cylinder 292 fixedlysecured to the rear surface of the upper casing 110 via a bracket 290 isconnected to the left-hand end of the knife receiver holder 288 via aconnecting member 296. In operation, before the piston rod 274 of theknife driving air cylinder 270 is lowered, the piston rod 294 of theholder driving cylinder 292 is displaced in the forward direction,causing the fore end part of the knife receiver holder 288 to beprojected directly below the carrier tape 134 of the tape-shaped package112 in order to receive the thrusting force of the cutter knife 284.

On the other hand, to damp the shock caused when the tape-shaped package112 is cut by the cutter knife 284, a damper ring 298 having asubstantially U-shaped sectional shape is attached to the upper end ofthe piston rod 274 of the knife driving air cylinder 270. In thisconnection, the lower end part of the damper ring 298 adapted to collideagainst the upper surface of the bracket 272 is molded of an elasticmaterial such as a rubber or the like. The tape-shaped package cuttingunit 132 is actuated when it is detected by the rotary encoder 188 thatthe tape-shaped package 112 is wound around the reel 116 by apredetermined length. At this time, the reel driving shaft 114 is heldin the temporarily stopped state.

It should be noted that any hitherto known structure other than thatdescribed above may be employed for the package cutting unit 132.

FIG. 13 schematically shows by way of rear view the structure of atape-shaped package guide or, in other words, a tape-shaped packageforemost end guiding unit 130 for conducting the tape-shaped package 112discharged from the pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128 to the empty reel116 fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114 while the foremost end of thetape-shaped package 112 is seized by the guiding unit 130, FIG. 14 showsby way of sectional view the structure of the tape-shaped packageforemost end guiding unit 130 taken along line 14--14 in FIG. 13, andFIG. 15 shows by way of sectional view the structure of a carrier tapecutting unit 136.

The opposite ends of a slider guide shaft 300 extending in the directionin parallel with a line segment between the pair of pinch rollers 126and 128 and the reel driving shaft 114 are held on the upper casing 110within the range between the pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128 and thereel driving shaft 114 with the aid of a bracket 302, and a slidable pin310 slidably received between a guide block 308 and an upper guidemember 306 having an inverted L-shaped sectional contour and fixedlysecured to the upper casing 110 in parallel with the slider guide shaft300 is firmly secured to a slider base 304 slidably fitted onto theslider guide shaft 300 to slidably move along the latter by tighteningscrews.

Structure shown in FIGS. 13-15 is provided for moving the tape-shapedpackage guide or guiding unit 130 to different predetermined positions.An air cylinder 322 includes a piston rod 316 of which foremost end isoperatively connected to the slider base 304 via a bracket 318 and aconnecting member 320. To assure that a slide member 312 of a rodlesscylinder 314 fixedly secured to the upper casing 110 can reciprocablymove in the direction in parallel with the slide guide shaft 300, theair cylinder 322 is firmly secured to the sliding member 312. Three stoppositions, i.e., a tape-shaped package receiving stop position locatedin the vicinity of the pinch rollers 126 and 128 to receive the fore endpart of the tape-shaped package 112 delivered from the pinch rollers 126and 128, a tape-shaped package delivering stop position located in thevicinity of the reel driving shaft 114 to deliver the fore end part ofthe tape-shaped package 112 to the reel 116 fitted onto the reel drivingshaft 114, and a tape-shaped package guiding stop position locatedbetween the tape-shaped package receiving stop position and thetape-shaped package delivering stop position for guiding the movement ofthe tape-shaped package 112 from the pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128to the reel driving shaft 114 in the course of a winding operation forwinding the tape-shaped package 112 around the reel 116 are determinedby combining the opposite end positions of reciprocable movement of thesliding member 312 of the rodless cylinder 314 with the opposite endpositions of reciprocable movement of the piston rod 316 of the aircylinder 322.

A slider 324 having the slider base 304 firmly secured to the lowersurface thereof is projected outside of an opening portion 326 formedthrough the upper casing 110 in parallel with the slider guide shaft 300so that a tape-shaped package introduction block 328 and a tape-shapedpackage guiding arm 330 are mounted on the fore end part of the slider324.

The tape-shaped package introduction block 328 having a tape-shapedpackage guide groove 332 formed so as to slidably receive thetape-shaped package 112 therein is exchangeably secured to the slider324 by tightening screws. A block holder 336 is firmly fitted onto arotary clamp shaft 334 rotatably inserted through the central part ofthe tape-shaped package introduction block 328 in the horizontaldirection at a right angle relative to the direction of conveyance ofthe tape-shaped package 112, and a clamp block 338 having an invertedL-shaped sectional contour is firmly secured to the block holder 336 bytightening set screws. In addition, a clamp pawl 340 adapted to thrustthe fore end part of the tape-shaped package 112 received in thetape-shaped package guide groove 332 of the tape-shaped packageintroduction block 328 against the tape-shaped package guide groove 332is integrally secured to the clamp block 338. In addition, a clamp lever342 of which left-hand end part is integrally fitted onto the rotaryclamp shaft 334 is connected to a lever extension member 346 while atension coil spring 344 is spanned between the right-hand end part ofthe clamp lever 342 and the right-hand end part of the bracket 318. Toturn the clamp lever 342 about the rotary clamp shaft 334 together withthe lever extension member 346 in the anticlockwise direction as seen inFIG. 13 against the resilient force of the tension coil spring 344, anair cylinder 350 including a piston rod 348 is firmly mounted on thebracket 318.

Specifically, while the tape-shaped package 112 is wound around the reel116, the piston rod 348 of the air cylinder 350 is retracted in thedownward direction as shown in FIG. 13, and the clamp lever 342 isturnably biased by the resilient force of the tension coil spring 344 insuch a manner as to allow the tape-shaped package guide groove 332 ofthe tape-shaped package introduction block 328 to be parted away fromthe clamp pawl 340. As a result, a gap wide enough to allow thetape-shaped package 112 to pass between the clamp pawl 340 and thetape-shaped package guide groove 332 is formed therebetween. On thecontrary, in the case that the fore end part of the tape-shaped package112 is delivered to the reel 116, the piston rod 348 of the air cylinder350 is expanded from the state shown in FIG. 13 in the upward direction,causing the clamp lever 342 to be turnably biased so as to allow thetape-shaped package guide groove 332 of the tape-shaped packageintroduction block 328 to come in contact with the clamp pawl 340,whereby the fore end part of the tape-shaped package 112 received in thetape-shaped package introduction block 328 is thrusted against thetape-shaped package guide groove 332, resulting in the fore end part ofthe tape-shaped package 112 being firmly seized by the clamp pawl 340 inthe tape-shaped package introduction block 328.

On the other hand, as is apparent from FIG. 13 and FIG. 16 which showsby way of enlarged sectional view structure of the tape-shaped packageguiding arm 330, the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 is turnablysupported to turn about a pivotal pin 354 which is inserted through anarm support plate 352 integrated with the slider 324. To assure that thetape-shaped package 112 is reliably brought in contact with thetape-shaped package guide groove 356 as the former slidably moves alongthe latter, a leaf spring 358 is fastened to the upper surface of thetape-shaped package guiding arm 330 by tightening a screw 360 in orderto apply a certain intensity of resilient force of the leaf spring 358to the tape-shaped package 112 from above. In addition, a compressioncoil spring 362 is disposed between the tape-shaped package guiding arm330 and the slider 324 to normally bias the package guide arm 330 insuch a manner as to allow the latter to turn about the pivotal pin 354in the clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 13.

The fundamental structure of a carrier tape cutting unit 136 locatedbetween the tape-shaped package cutting unit 132 and the reel drivingshaft 114 to form a leader portion 122 by cutting only the carrier tape134 of the tape-shaped package 112 is substantially coincident with thatof the tape-shaped package cutting unit 132, and the carrier tapecutting unit 136 is operated directly after the tape-shaped packagecutting unit 132 is operated.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, a knife driving air cylinder 364 isattached to the front surface of the upper casing 110 with the aid of abracket 366 with an upward attitude, and the upper end of a piston rod368 extending through the knife driving air cylinder 364 is slidablyheld by a rod guide 370 secured to the upper casing 110 while extendingthrough the rod guide 370. A cutter holder 372 is secured to the upperend of the piston rod 368, and a cutter knife 374 is firmly attached tothe cutter holder 372 in order to cut the carrier tape 134 of thetape-shaped package 112 therewith. A plate-shaped knife receiver 376projected outside of the upper casing 110 from the rear side of thelatter is located directly above the cutter knife 374, and it isslidably held by a knife receiver holder 378 fastened to rear surface ofthe upper casing 110 to slidably move in the normal direction relativeto the upper casing 110 (i.e., in the rightward/leftward direction asseen in FIG. 15). A holder driving cylinder 382 is secured to the knifereceiver holder 378 via a bracket 380, and the foremost end of a pistonrod 384 of the holder driving cylinder 382 is operatively connected tothe left-hand end of the knife receiver holder 378 via a connectingmember 386. The piston rod 368 of the holder driving air cylinder 364 isexpanded before the piston rod 368 of the knife driving air cylinder 364is raised up, causing the fore end part of the knife receiver 376 to beprojected between the carrier tape 134 and the cover tape 154 both ofwhich are not still fused to each other, in order to receive thethrusting force of the cutter knife 374 therewith.

On the other hand, a tape sucking plate 642 having a L-shaped sectionalcontour is fastened to the upper casing 110 by tightening screws inorder to take up the cover tape 154 after the latter is cut by actuatingthe tape-shaped package cutting unit 132, and a suction tube 644 isdisposed on the rear surface of the tape sucking plate 642 facing to thecover tape 154 of the tape-shaped package 112 while making communicationwith a suction pump (not shown). Thus, when the suction pump is drivenbefore the tape-shaped package cutting unit 132 is actuated, the covertape 154 is sucked up to reach the lower surface of the tape suckingplate 642, causing only the carrier tape 134 to be downwardly suspendedfrom the tape sucking plate 642 due to its own dead weight. As a result,the carrier tape 134 is separated from the cover tape 154, whereby onlythe carrier tape 134 can reliably be cut by the cutter knife 374 afterthe knife receiver 376 is inserted between the carrier tape 134 and thecover tape 154. The suction pump is continuously driven directly beforethe leader portion 122 of the tape-shaped package 112 is completelywound around the reel 116.

To damp the shock caused when the carrier 134 is cut by the cutter knife374, a damper ring 388 having a U-shaped sectional contour and molded ofan elastic material such as a rubber or the like is attached to thelower end of the piston rod 368 of the knife driving air cylinder 364 tocollide against the lower surface of the bracket 366. The carrier tapecutting unit 136 is actuated subsequent to the cutting operationachieved for the tape-shaped package 112 by actuating the tape-shapedpackage cutting unit 132. For this reason, the reel driving shaft 114should temporarily be held in the stopped state between the time whenthe tape-shaped package cutting unit 132 starts to be actuated and thetime when the carrier tape cutting unit 136 concludes to be actuated.

The structure of the carrier tape cutting unit 136 should not be limitedonly to that employed in this embodiment but any other type of hithertoknown structure may be employed for the carrier tape cutting unit 136.

FIG. 17 shows by way of sectional view the structure of a reelattaching/detaching unit 140 constructed in accordance with thisembodiment.

Specifically, a subframe 390 having a heavy thickness is immovably heldinside of the upper casing 110 with the aid of a plurality of supportcolumns 392 while extending in parallel with the upper casing 110. Acylindrical driving shaft holder 394 is immovably secured to the centralpart of the subframe 390, and a hollow shaft 396 extending through thedriving shaft holder 394 is rotatably held in the driving shaft holder394 with the aid of a pair of bearings 398. A compressed air supplysource (not shown) is communicated with the left-hand end of the hollowshaft 396 via a rotary joint 400, and a reel chuck shift valve 406communicated with a compressed air supply path 402 in the hollow shaft396 via an air piping 404 as well as a reel driving shaftexpanding/contracting unit 410 including a reel driving shaft 114adapted to fitted into a reel hole 408 formed through the central partof the hub core 118 of the reel 116 are connected to the right-hand endof the hollow shaft 396.

In this embodiment, the reel driving shaft expanding/contracting unit410 includes a reel driving shaft 114 having a split structure composedof three split segments so as to allow the outer diameter thereof to bereduced by the resilient force of spring means (not shown) and aplurality of engagement pins 414 adapted to be engaged with a pluralityof engagement grooves 412 radially formed outward of the outer peripheryof the reel hole 408. As compressed air is fed from the reel chuckshifting valve 406, the three split segments of the reel driving shaft114 are radially displaced in such a manner that the outer diameter ofthe reel driving shaft 114 is enlarged against the resilient force ofspring means. When the enlarged outer diameter of the reel driving shaft114 collides with the inner peripheral surface of the reel hole 408, thereel 116 is firmly held on the reel driving shaft 114 while building anintegral structure with the latter. On the contrary, when the compressedair in the reel driving shaft expanding/contracting unit 410 isexhausted to the outside by actuating the reel chuck shifting valve 406,the three split segments of the reel driving shaft 114 are equallyradially displaced in the inward direction until the outer diameter ofthe reel driving shaft 114 is reduced to such an extent that the reel116 can be detached from the reel driving shaft 114. Each of theengagement pins 414 is normally biased by the resilient force of acompression coil spring 415 received therein in such a manner as not toallow it to be projected from the outer end surface of the reel drivingshaft 114. With such construction, when the position of each engagementpin 414 does not coincide with that of each engagement groove 412 in thereel hole 408, the foremost end of each engagement pin 414 is retractedinside of the reel driving shaft 114 (i.e., in the leftward direction asseen in FIG. 17) by the resilient force of the compression coil spring415.

In this embodiment, the reel chuck shifting valve 406 is actuated tostop the feeding of compressed air to the reel driving shaftexpanding/contracting unit 410 only when the reel 116 is displacedbetween the reel driving shaft 114 and a reel receiving/delivering shaft416 to be described later (see FIG. 23) so that it is received from anddelivered to the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416. Otherwise, thereel chuck shifting valve 406 is actuated to feed compressed air to thereel driving shaft expanding/contracting unit 410. As will be describedlater, since the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416 is dimensioned tohave an outer diameter substantially equal to that of the reel drivingshaft 114 in the contracted state, when the reel driving shaft 114 iscorrectly located opposite to the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416 asseen in the axial direction, receiving of the reel 116 from the reelreceiving/delivering shaft 416 and delivering of the former from thelatter can be achieved between the reel driving shaft 114 and the reelreceiving/delivering shaft 416 without an occurrence of any particularproblem irrespective of some downward positional offset of the centeraxis of the reel hole 408 of the reel 116 relative to the center axis ofthe reel driving shaft 114 and the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416.

A speed reducing unit 420 is mounted on the subframe 390 via a bracket418. A driving gear 424 is firmly fitted onto an output shaft 422 of thespeed reducing unit 420 and a follower gear 426 is firmly fitted ontothe left-hand end part of the hollow shaft 396 so that an endlesstoothed belt 428 is spanned between both the gears 424 and 426 whileextending around them. Thus, as a reel driving stepping motor 430assembled with the speed reducing unit 420 is rotationally driven, thehollow shaft 396 is rotated at a reduced speed together with the reelchuck shifting valve 406 and the reel driving shaftexpanding/contracting unit 410 via the speed reducing unit 420 and theendless toothed belt 428.

In response to detection signals outputted from the slider positiondetecting sensors 170, 172, 174 and 176, the rotary encoder 188 and aninsert slot detecting sensor 452 to be described later, the rotationalspeed of the reel driving shaft 114 can arbitrarily be changed inconformity with a command issued from a controlling unit (not shown).Basically, the reel driving shaft 114 is rotated at a low speed not onlywhen the tape-shaped package 112 starts to be wound around the reel 116but also directly before completion of the winding operation, and it isrotated at a high speed for a period of time other than the foregoingones, but rotation of the reel driving shaft 114 is stopped at the timeof exchanging the reel 116 with another one.

To assure that the reel 116 is detached from the reel driving shaft 114after the tape-shaped package 112 is completely wound around the reel116, an annular reel thrusting plate 432 is arranged in such a manner asto surround the reel driving shaft 114 therewith, and the foremost endsof a plurality of guide rods 436 slidably inserted through rod guidebushes 434 attached to the upper casing 110 are fixedly secured to therear surface of the annular reel thrusting plate 432. The left-hand endsof the guide rods 436 are fixedly secured to an annular connection plate438 which surrounds the right-hand end part of the hollow shaft 396therewith, and a piston rod 444 of a reel discharging air cylinder 442mounted on the subframe 390 via a bracket 440 is operatively connectedto the annular connection plate 438 via a flexible joint 446.

When the piston rod 444 of the reel discharging air cylinder 442 isexpanded, the reel thrusting plate 432 located at the retracted positionshown in FIG. 17 is displaced in the forward direction to reach aposition represented by phantom lines shown in the drawing, whereby thereel 116 fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114 is thrusted toward thereel receiving/delivering shaft 416 which is located opposite to thereel driving shaft 114 as seen in the axial direction.

It should be noted that the structure of the reel attaching/detachingunit 140 should not be limited only to that in the aforementionedembodiment but any other type of hitherto known structure may beemployed for the reel attaching/detaching unit 140.

To assure that the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 deliveredfront the tape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit 130 isautomatically engaged with a tape insert slot 120 formed through a hubcore 118 of an empty reel 116 fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114, areel indexing unit 142 serves to stop the tape insert slot 120 at apredetermined position at all times. FIG. 1 and FIG. 18 show thestructure of the foregoing reel indexing unit 142, respectively.

Specifically, an expansible/contractible air cylinder 450 including apiston rod 448 adapted to expand toward and contract away from the hubcore 118 is arranged at the lower end part of the upper casing 110. Areflection type insert slot detecting sensor 452 is disposed at theforemost end of the piston rod 448 of the air cylinder 450 via a sensorbracket 454 in order to detect one of the tape insert slots 120 formedthrough the hub core 118 of the reel 116 by using an optical fiber. Toassure that the sensor bracket 454 is smoothly displaced in the reel 116in the forward direction to reach a detecting position represented byphantom lines in FIG. 18 while it is not adversely affected by anywarpage of both the flange portions 456 of the reel 116, the sensorbracket 454 is tapered as shown in FIG. 19 that is a plan view of thesensor bracket 454. In addition, to assure that the tape-shaped package112 is reliably brought in the interior of the reel 116 by forciblyexpanding both the flange portions 456 of the reel 116 in the outwarddirection, an enlarged portion 458 having an increased width is fastenedto the rear end part of the sensor bracket 454 (on the left-hand side asseen in FIG. 19).

When one of the tape insert slots 120 is indexed to a predeterminedposition on the hub core 118 of the reel 116 fitted onto the reeldriving shaft 114, the piston rod 448 of the air cylinder 450 isexpanded from the standby position as shown in FIG. 18, causing thesensor bracket 454 to be displaced in the space defined between both theflange portions 456 of the reel 116 in the forward direction to reach adetecting position located opposite to the hub core 118 of the reel 116.At this time, the reel 116 is immovably held without any rotationthereof. Subsequently, the reel driving stepping motor 430 isrotationally driven at a low speed. When the insert slot detectingsensor 452 detects one of tape insert slots 120 formed through the hubcore 118 of the reel 116 while the foregoing state is maintained, adetection signal is outputted to a controlling unit (not shown) for thereel driving stepping motor 430. In response to the detection signal,the reel driving shaft 114 is rotated by a predetermined angle with theaid of the controlling unit, and thereafter, the rotation of the reeldriving shaft 114 is stopped, whereby the tape insert slot 120 on thehub core 118 is located at the position facing to the foremost end ofthe tape-shaped package 112 conveyed from the tape-shaped packageforemost end guiding unit 130.

In this embodiment, the insert slot detecting sensor 452 is employed forthe reel indexing unit 142 as means for detecting the position of eachtape insert slot 120 formed through the hub core 118 of the reel 116. Itof course is obvious that any other type of hitherto known sensor suchas a supersonic sensor, a contact sensor or the like may be substitutedfor the insert slot detecting sensor 452.

FIG. 20 schematically shows by way of illustrative view the structure ofan end seal feeding unit 138 for connecting an end seal 124 to theterminal end of the leader portion 122, and FIG. 21 shows by way ofsectional view the structure of the end seal feeding unit 138 in thedeveloped state.

Specifically, an end seal feeding reel 464 is detachably and rotatablymounted on a reel mounting bracket 462 projected outside of theright-hand side surface of the upper casing 110, and a release liner 466having a plurality of ribbon-shaped end seals 124 adhesively attachedthereto in the equally spaced relationship as seen in the longitudinaldirection of the release liner 466 is wound around the end seal feedingreel 464. A release liner winding shaft 472 is rotatably supported bythe upper casing 110 and an inner frame 468 arranged inside of the uppercasing 110 with the aid of a pair of bearing bushes 470 while extendingthrough the upper casing 110 and the inner frame 468, and a releaseliner winding reel 474 having a single flange structure is detachablyfitted onto the fore end part of the release liner winding shaft 472 bytightening a screw 476.

A wedge-shaped peeling plate 478 is firmly secured to the upper casing110 at the position above the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330disposed at the tape-shaped package guiding stop position of thetape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit 130 in order to peel thefore end part of an end seal 124 from the release liner 466, and a pairof retaining rollers 480 and 482 are rotatably fitted onto roller shafts484 and 486 projected outside of the upper casing 110 on the left-handside of the peeling plate 478. As the release liner tape 466 is unwoundfrom the end seal feeding reel 464, it is delivered to the release linerwinding reel 474 via the first retaining roller 480, the peeling plate478 and the second retaining roller 482. At this time, one of end seals124 is peeled off from the release liner 466 due to a large magnitude ofdirection change induced by the peeling plate 478, resulting in the endseal 124 being projected away from the foremost end of the peeling plate478.

A pair of tape seizing rollers 488 and 490 for holding the release liner466 in the clamped state and an end seal sensor 492 for detectingwhether an end seal 124 is adhesively attached to the release liner 466or not are disposed between the end seal feeding reel 464 and the firstretaining roller 480 at the positions located in the order as seen fromthe end seal feeding reel 464 side, and the tape seizing rollers 488 and490 are rotatably fitted onto roller shafts 494 and 496 projectedoutside of the upper casing 110. In addition, a pair of pinch rollers498 and 500 for holding the release liner 466 in the clamped state aredisposed between the second retaining roller 482 and the release linerwinding shaft 472. One of the pair of pinch rollers 498 and 500, i.e.,the driving pinch roller 498 is firmly fitted onto the fore end part ofa pinch roller driving shaft 504 rotatably supported by the upper casing110 and the inner frame 468 with the aid of a pair of bearing bushes502, while the other one of the pair of pinch rollers 498 and 500, i.e.,the idling pinch roller 500 is rotatably fitted onto a roller supportingshaft 512 firmly secured to the outer end part of a turn lever 510 whichis turnably supported by a turn shaft 508 which in turn is turnably heldin a bearing bush 506 fixedly secured to the upper casing 110.Additionally, spring means (not shown) is disposed on the turn shaft 508for the purpose of normally biasing the idling pinch roller 500 towardthe driving pinch roller 498 side by the resilient force of the springmeans.

A release liner driving motor 516 including a speed reducing unit 518 ismounted on a bracket 514 fastened to the upper casing 110 by tighteningscrews. An endless tooted belt 526 is spanned between a driving gear 522firmly fitted onto an output shaft 520 of the speed reducing unit 518and a follower gear 524 firmly fitted onto the pinch roller drivingshaft 504 while extending around both the gears 522 and 524, andmoreover, an endless power transmitting belt 532 is spanned between apulley 528 firmly fitted onto the rear end part of the release linerwinding shaft 472 and a pulley 530 firmly fitted onto the rear end partof the pinch roller driving shaft 504 while extending around both thepulleys 528 and 530.

The release liner driving motor 516 is intermittently rotated every timea leader portion 122 is formed by actuating the carrier tape cuttingunit 136. Specifically, the release liner driving motor 516 starts to berotated at a low speed in synchronization with the rotation of the reeldriving stepping motor 430 directly after completion of the cuttingoperation performed for cutting the carrier tape 134 by actuating thecarrier tape cutting unit 136, in order to convey the release liner 466at a speed corresponding to the conveying speed of the leader portion122, whereby the foremost end of the end seal 124 is adhesivelyconnected to the rear end part of the leader portion 122 by utilizingthe adhesive power of the end seal 124. When it is detected that therelease liner 466 is wound around the release liner winding reel 474 bya predetermined length, the release liner driving motor 516 stops itsrotation.

As shown in FIG. 20, FIG. 21 and FIG. 22 that is a sectional view of anend seal retaining roller 540 taken along line 22--22 in FIG. 20, abearing bush 536 is fastened to the upper casing 110 at the positionabove the reel driving shaft 114 by tightening screws in order torotatably support a tape retainer shaft 534 which extends through theupper casing 110 and the bearing bush 536, and the tape retaining roller540 adapted to be brought in the hollow space defined between both theflange portions 456 of the reel 116 firmly fitted onto the reel drivingshaft 114 is rotatably held at the foremost end of a turn lever 538 ofwhich base end part is fitted onto the foremost end of the taperetaining shaft 534. The tape retaining roller 540 is turned about thetape retaining shaft 534 by its own dead weight in the clockwisedirection as seen in FIG. 20. With this construction, as the tape-shapedpackage 112 is wound around the reel 116, the outer periphery of thetape-shaped package 112 is depressed toward the hub core 118 side by thedead weight of the tape retaining roller 540 in order to assure thatthere does not arise a malfunction that the end seal 124 is incorrectlyconnected to the tape-shaped package 112. A relief lever 542 is firmlyfitted onto the innermost end of the tape retaining shaft 534, and aretaining roller relief cylinder 544 is immovably held inside of theupper casing 110 while facing to the upper end of the relief lever 542.As a piston rod 546 of the retaining roller relief cylinder 544 isexpanded, the foremost end of the piston rod 546 thrusts the relieflever 542. As a result, the tape retaining roller 540 is turnablydisplaced together with the turn lever 538 adapted to turn about thetape retainer shaft 534. In such manner, the reel 116 can be attached toor detached from the reel driving shaft 114.

It should be noted that the structure of the end seal feeding unit 138should not be limited only to the aforementioned one but any other typeof hitherto known structure may be employed for the end seal feedingunit 138.

FIG. 23 shows by way of sectional view the structure of a reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 which serves to feed an empty reel 116 tothe reel driving shaft 114, and moreover, receives the reel 116 havingthe tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound from the reel drivingshaft 114.

Specifically, a swing arm 550 is turnably mounted on a horizontallyextending pivotal shaft 548 at a right angle relative to the reeldriving shaft 114, and the pivotal shaft 548 is located above the upperend surface of the lower casing 106. The upper end of an arm turning aircylinder 554 is pivotally connected to the right-hand end of the swingarm 550, while the lower end of the same is pivotally connected to abracket 552 fastened to the inner wall surface of the lower casing 106at the upper end part of the latter. When the arm turning air cylinder554 is actuated, the swing arm 550 selectively assumes a standbyposition, i.e., a horizontal attitude as represented by solid lines inFIG. 23. Otherwise, it assume a vertical attitude, i.e., a reelreceiving/delivering position as represented by phantom lines in thedrawing.

A fitting shaft driving air cylinder 556 including a reelreceiving/delivering shaft 416 adapted to be fitted into a reel hole 408formed through the central part of the reel 116 is fixedly secured tothe left-hand end part of the swing arm 550 with an upward attitude, andthe reel receiving/delivering shaft 416 is dimensioned to have an outerdiameter substantially equal to that of the reel driving shaft 114 whichis held in the state that no compressed air is fed to the reel drivingshaft enlarging/contracting unit 410. In addition, a receiving ringdriving air cylinder 558 is firmly disposed rightward of the fittingshaft driving air cylinder 558 with an upward attitude while extendingin parallel with the fitting shaft driving air cylinder 556. While theswing arm 550 is held in the standby state, a reel receiving ring 566 ofwhich upper end surface is held in the horizontal state with the aid ofa receiving ring bracket 564 is firmly connected to a piston rod 562 ofthe receiving ring driving air cylinder 558. While the fitting shaftdriving air cylinder 556 is held in the expanded state, the fore endpart of the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416 is projected outside ofthe central part of the reel receiving ring 566 as represented byphantom lines in FIG. 23 so that it extends through the reel hole 408.On the contrary, while the fitting shaft driving air cylinder 556 isheld in the retracted, the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416 islowered below the reel receiving ring 566 as shown in the drawing. Whenthe piston rod 562 of the receiving ring driving air cylinder 558 isexpanded from the state that the reel driving shaft 114 is linearlyaligned with the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416, the reel 116 heldon the reel receiving/delivering shaft 416 is drawn out of the latter,and thereafter, it is thrusted toward reel driving shaft 114 side.

In this embodiment, the pivotal shaft 548 for the swing arm 550 of thereel receiving/delivering unit 144 is laid with a horizontal attitude sothat the swing arm 550 is caused to turn about the pivotal shaft 548 byan angle of ninety degrees. However, the present invention should not belimited only to this embodiment. It of course is obvious that other typeof structure rather than the foregoing one and any type of driving meansfor turnably driving the swing arm 550 may be employed for the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 depending on the layout of a reelfeeding/discharging unit 146 to be described later.

In this embodiment, the pass line of the tape-shaped package 112 isdownwardly inclined at a certain angle relative to the horizontal planein order to reduce a floor area required for mounting the tape windingapparatus, and moreover, a measure is taken such that the taping machinecan continuously be operated without any reduction of an operation ratethereof by determining a raising/lowering stroke of the slider 164 ofthe dancer unit 148 to assume a large value.

Next, FIG. 24 shows by way of plan view the structure of a reelfeeding/discharging unit 146 which serves to feed an empty reel 116 tothe reel receiving/delivering unit 144, and moreover, receive a reel 116having a tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound from the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144, FIG. 25 shows by way of sectional viewthe structure of the reel feeding/discharging unit 146 taken along line25--25 in FIG. 24, and FIG. 26 likewise shows by way of sectional viewthe structure the reel feeding/discharging unit 146 taken along line26--26 in FIG. 24.

Specifically, an empty reel storage station 568 is arranged on the lowercasing 106 on the left-hand side of the reel receiving/delivering unit144 held in the standby state in order to storably hold a plurality ofempty reels 116 in the overlapped state, and spacers 570 fastened to thelower casing 106 by tightening screws while projecting upward of thelower casing 106 and two fore and rear support columns 574 each standingupright from the corresponding spacer 570 via a bracket 572 are mountedon the empty reel storage station 568. A plurality of empty reels 116are placed one above another in the overlapped state in the hollow spacedefined by the four support columns 574, and one of the empty reels 116,i.e., the lowermost reel 116 is placed on the upper surface of the lowercasing 106.

In addition, a recovered reel storage station 576 is arranged rightwardof the lower casing 106 on the opposite side to the empty reel storagestation 568 while the reel receiving/delivering unit 144 located in thestandby position is interposed therebetween. A stocker housing 578 isintegrated with the lower casing 106 while surrounding the recoveredreel storage station 576 therewith, and a magazine base 582 is placed onthe bottom wall of the stocker housing 578 in order to detachably placea reel magazine 580 on the magazine base 582 in the correctly locatedstate. The magazine base 582 is surrounded by a frame-shaped lifter 584of which right-hand end part is integrated with a guide bush 588 adaptedto be slidably displaced along an upright standing guide rod 586 in thestocker housing 578. In addition, a raising/lowering screw shaft 592 isrotatably supported by upper and lower bearings 590 in the stockerhousing 578 while upright standing in parallel with the guide rod 586,and a feed nut 594 fastened to the lifter 584 is threadably engaged withthe raising/lowering screw 592. A follower bevel gear 596 is firmlyfitted onto the lower end of the raising/lowering screw shaft 592 so asto mesh with a driving bevel gear 604 firmly fitted onto an output shaft602 of a speed reducing unit 600 which is secured to the lower surfaceof the stocker housing 578 via a bracket 598. As a lifterraising/lowering motor 606 integrated with the speed reducing unit 600is rotationally driven in the normal/reverse direction, theraising/lowering screw shaft 592 is rotated in the normal/reversedirection with the result that the lifter 584 integrated with the feednut 594 threadably engaged with the raising/lowering shaft 592 is raisedup and lowered along the guide rod 586.

In this embodiment, the reel magazine 580 is substantially composed of abottom plate 608 placed on the magazine base 582 in the correctlylocated state and a core rod 610 standing upright from the bottom plate608 to extend through the reel hole 408 of the reel 116. When apredetermined number of reels 116 are placed one above another on thebase plate 608 in the overlapped state while the core rod 610 extendsthrough the respective reels 116, the reel magazine 580 can be exchangedwith a new empty reel magazine 580 with an operator's hand. A dog 612 isintegrated with the lifter 584 at the right-hand end of the latter whileprojecting from the lifter 584 in order to detect the position of thelifter 584 in the stock housing 578. An upper position detecting sensor614 serves to detect the upper end of the dog 612, while a lowerposition detecting sensor 616 serves to detect the lower end of the dog612, and both the position detecting sensors 614 and 616 are fastened tothe stocker housing 578 on the right-hand side of the latter bytightening screws. To assure that the lifter 584 is lowered by adistance equal to the width of a reel 116 every time the reel 116 havinga tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound is conveyed onto the reelstorage station 576 so that the upper end surface of the uppermost reel116 is always flush with the upper surface of the lower casing 106, apair of upper end position detecting sensors 618 are disposed at theopposing positions with flange portions 456 of the uppermost end reel116 interposed therebetween, in order to detect the position of theuppermost end reel 116 among a plurality of reels 116 placed on therecovered reel storage station 576 in the overlapped state. In thisembodiment, to cope with the problem that the width of a reel 116 variescorresponding to variation of the width of a tape-shaped package 112, ameasure is taken such that the positions of the upper end positiondetecting sensors 618 can correctively be changed in the verticaldirection.

With this construction, when no reel is placed in the reel magazine 680,in response to a detection signal outputted from the upper end positionsensor 614, the lifter raising/lowering motor 606 is rotationally drivenin the normal direction until the lifter 584 is raised up to reach theposition where the upper surface of the lifter 584 is flush with theupper surface of the lower housing 106. When a reel 116 is conveyed tothe recovered reel storage station 576 while the foregoing state ismaintained, in response to a detection signal outputted from the upperend position detecting sensor 618, the lifter raising/lowering motor 606is rotationally driven in the reverse direction so that the lifter 584is lowered by a distance equal to the width of the reel 116, causing thecore rod 610 of the reel magazine 580 to be relatively inserted throughthe reel hole 408 of the reel 116. Thus, a plurality of reels 116 areplaced one above another in the reel magazine 580 in the overlappedstate by repeating the aforementioned steps of operations. When apredetermined number of reels 116 are placed one above another in thereel magazine 580 in the overlapped state, the lower position detectingsensor 616 is turned on, causing alarming means (not shown) to beactivated so as to promote an operator to exchange the reel magazine 580with an empty one.

As is apparent from FIG. 24, the empty reel storage station 568, thereel receiving/delivering unit 144 held at the standby position and therecovered reel storage station 576 are arranged side by side in theequally spaced relationship. To assure that a lowermost reel 116 among aplurality of reels 116 placed on the empty reel storage station 568 inthe overlapped state is thrusted to the position directly above the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 held in the standby position, aplate-shaped empty reel feeding member 620 is reciprocably displacedbetween the reel receiving/delivering unit 144 held at the standbyposition and the empty reel storage position 568 represented by solidlines in FIG. 24. The empty reel feeding member 620 includes twoopposing pairs of rollers 622 each of which can roll on the uppersurface of the lower casing 106. In addition, to assure that a reel 116having a tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound and placed on thereel receiving/delivering unit 144 held at the standby position isconveyed to the recovered reel storage station 576, a substantiallyU-shaped conveying table 624 is reciprocably displaced between therecovered reel storage station 576 and the reel receiving/deliveringunit 144 held at the standby position to surround the reel receivingring 566 therewith. The recovered reel conveying table 624 includes apair of rollers (not shown) each of which can roll on the upper surfaceof the lower casing 106. The empty reel feeding member 620 and therecovered reel conveying table 624 are operatively connected to eachother via a joint bracket 626 bridged therebetween, and a sliding member630 of a rodless cylinder 628 fastened to the upper part of the lowercasing 106 is operatively connected to the joint bracket 626 via aplurality of bolts 632.

In the case that the sliding member 628 of the rodless cylinder 628 isheld at one of stroke ends thereof, the empty reel feeding member 620and the recovered reel conveying table 624 are located at their standbypositions represented by solid lines in FIG. 24. In the case that thesliding member 630 of the rodless cylinder 628 is held at the otherstroke end thereof, the position of the empty reel feeding member 620 isshifted to the empty reel storage station 568, and moreover, theposition of the recovered reel conveying table 624 is shifted to therecovered reel storage station 576. Concretely, the empty reel feedingmember 620 held in the standby state is displaced to the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 side, a side end surface 634 of the emptyreel feeding member 620 collides against the outer peripheral edge of alowermost reel 116 held on the empty reel receiving storage station 568,causing the lowermost reel 116 to be thrusted to the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 side. At the same time, the recovered reelconveying table 624 is displaced to the recovered reel storage station576 together with the reel 116 placed on the recovered reel conveyingtable 624 and having a tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound.

A reel retaining cylinder 638 including a piston rod 636 adapted to beprojected in the forward direction is disposed on the side end of theupper casing 110 located directly above the stocker housing 578, and areel retainer 640 interposed between the standby position of the reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 and the recovered reel storage station 576and adapted to collide against the outer periphery of the flangeportions 456 of the reel 116 on the recovered reel conveying table 624located on the recovered reel storage station 576 is firmly fitted ontothe fore end part of the piston rod 636. To assure that the reel 116placed on the recovered reel conveying table 624 and having atape-shaped package 112 wound therearound is immovably retained on therecovered reel storage station 576 when the recovered reel conveyingtable 624 returns to its standby position from the recovered reelstorage station 576, the reel retainer 640 is projected in the hollowspace between the standby position of the reel receiving/delivering unit144 and the recovered reel storage station 576, whereby the reel 116 onthe recovered reel conveying table 624 can immovably be retained on therecovered reel storage station 576 when the recovered reel conveyingtable 624 moves to the reel receiving/delivering unit 144 side.

It should be noted that the structure of the reel feeding/dischargingunit 146 as described above should not be limited only to the shown onebut any other type of hitherto known structure may be employed for thereel feeding/discharging unit 146.

Next, a tape winding apparatus constructed in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention based on a second aspect of thelatter will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 27 toFIG. 38 wherein a tape-shaped package having a plurality ofsemiconductor chip components received therein is used for the tapewinding apparatus. It should be noted that same structural components asthose described above in the preceding embodiment are represented bysame reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 27 that is a front view of the tape winding apparatusand FIG. 28 that is an enlarged front view of an upper casing of thetape winding apparatus, an upper casing 108 having a control panel 108attached to the front surface thereof is arranged on a lower casing 106which in turn is mounted on a floor surface 104 with the aid of aplurality of casters 100. A start switch, a stop switch, various kindsof alarm lamps, a display unit and a counter (each of which is not shownin the drawings) are arranged on the control panel 108 for properlyoperating the tape winding apparatus. With this construction, the tapewinding apparatus can automatically be operated by actuating theseswitches with an operator's hand in order to assure that a tape-shapedpackage 112 (see FIG. 3) fed from a taping machine (not shown) issuccessively wound around an empty reel 116 fitted onto a reel drivingshaft 114.

First, the empty reel 116 is fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114 andone of tape insert slots 120 formed through a hub core 118 (see FIG. 36)of the empty reel 116 is then indexed to a predetermined position.Subsequently, the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 isinserted into one of the tape insert slots 120 formed through the hubcore 118 of the empty reel 116, and the tape-shaped package 112 is thenwound around the reel 116 by a predetermined length by rotationallydriving the reel driving shaft 114. On completion of the windingoperation, a leader portion 122 (see FIG. 3) is formed at the terminalend of the tape-shaped package 112, and after an end seal 124 isadhesively connected to the terminal end of the leader portion 122, thereel 116 is detached from the reel driving shaft 114, and thereafter, anext winding operation is performed again from the beginning.

In this embodiment, to assure that a series of operations as mentionedabove are automatically repeated, a pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128for feeding the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 toward thereel driving shaft 114, a package fore end part guiding unit 130 forconducting the tape-shaped package 112 discharged from the pair of pinchrollers 126 and 128 to the empty reel 116 fitted onto the reel drivingshaft 114 while seizing the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112therewith, a tape cutting unit 648 located between the pair of pinchrollers 126 and 128 and the tape-shaped package foremost end guidingunit 130 to cut only a carrier tape 134 so as to form a leader portion122 or to cut a cover tape 154 together with a carrier tape 134, an endseal feeding unit 138 for connecting an end seal 124 to the terminal endof the leader portion 122, and a reel attaching/detaching unit 140 (seeFIG. 35) are arranged in the upper casing 110. In addition, a reelreceiving/delivering unit 144 (see FIG. 23) for feeding an empty reel116 to the reel driving shaft 114 and receiving the reel 116 having atape-shaped package 112 therearound from the reel driving shaft 114 anda reel receiving/discharging unit 146 (see FIG. 24) for feeding an emptyreel 116 to the reel receiving/delivering unit 144 and receiving thereel 116 having a tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound from thereel receiving/delivering unit 144 are arranged in the lower casing 106.Additionally, to temporarily storably hold the fore end part of thetape-shaped package 112 continuously fed from the taping machine at thetime when the reel 116 is attached to and detached from the reel drivingshaft 114, a dancer unit 148 is displaceably arranged in such a manneras to be slidably displaced between the lower casing 106 and the uppercasing 110.

In this embodiment, a label adhering unit for adhesively attaching alabel 650 having various kinds of informations on a type of tape-shapedpackage 112, a content of each article received in the tape-shapedpackage 112 and other items printed thereon to one of flange portions456 of the reel 116 having the tape-shaped package 112 wound therearoundis disposed at the position located sideward of the tape windingapparatus.

With respect to a taping machine to be operatively associated with thetape winding apparatus for producing a tape-shaped package 112 as shownin FIG. 3, the taping machine as described above in the precedingembodiment can be used as it is.

In this embodiment, a dancer unit 148 includes a slider 164 adapted tobe slidably displaced along a guide rod 158 in the upward/downwarddirection, and the tape-shaped package 112 is caused to extend throughthe slider 164 in such a manner as to enable a speed of winding of thetape-shaped package 12 around the reel 116 caused by rotation of thereel driving shaft 114 to be automatically changed corresponding to theposition of the slider 164 on the guide rod 158.

Specifically, in the case that the slider 164 is slidably displaced tothe lowermost end of the guide rod 158, the winding speed of thetape-shaped package 112 is increased to assume a preset highest speed,causing the position of the slider 164 to be quickly rased up. On thecontrary, in the case that the slider 164 is slidably displaced to theuppermost end of the guide rod 158, the winding speed of the tape-shapedpackage 112 is reduced to assume a lowest speed, causing the position ofthe slider 164 to be quickly lowered. Thus, when it is required that theslider 164 is held at the intermediate position of the guide rod 158,the rotational speed of the reel driving shaft 114 is correspondinglyadjusted.

A pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128 are disposed rightward of atape-shaped package introduction pulley 646 rotatably mounted on theupper casing 110 at the left-hand end of the latter in order to conveythe tape-shaped package 112 toward the reel driving shaft 114 side. Thestructure of the pair of pinch rollers 126 and 128 is entirely same tothat shown in FIG. 11 that is a sectional view taken along line 11--11in FIG. 10.

In addition, a pin roller 186 is disposed rightward of the pair of pinchrollers 126 and 128, and the sectional structure of the pin roller 186is entirely same to that shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 that is an enlargedsectional view of a section represented by an arrow-shaped mark of 8 inFIG. 7.

FIG. 29 shows by way of sectional view the structure of a tape cuttingunit 648 arranged rightward of the pin roller 186, and moreover, FIG. 30shows by way of side view the structure of the tape cutting unit 648 asseen from the right-hand side of FIG. 29.

Specifically, a tape-shaped package cutter 652 and a carrier tape cutter654 are disposed in the tape cutting unit 648 in the opposingrelationship while a conveyance path for the tape-shaped package 112 isinterposed therebetween. The tape-shaped package cutter 652 adapted tobe actuated in the downward direction includes a knife driving aircylinder 270 of which piston rod 274 is firmly equipped with a cutterknife 284 via a cutter holder 282 so as to cut a cover tape 154 of thetape-shaped package 112 therewith. On the other hand, the carrier tapecutter 654 adapted to be actuated in the upward direction likewiseincludes a knife driving air cylinder 364 of which piston rod 368 isfirmly equipped with a cutter knife 374 via a cutter holder 372 so as tocut a carrier tape 134 of the tape-shaped package 112 therewith.

As is best seen in FIG. 30, a plate-shaped knife receiver 286 adapted tobe projected in the hollow space defined between both the cutter knifes284 and 374 from the rear side of the upper casing 110 is slidably heldby a knife receiver holder 288 fixedly secured to the rear surface ofthe upper casing 110 so as to be slidably displaced in the horizontaldirection (i.e., in the leftward/rightward direction as seen in FIG. 30)while it is operatively connected to a cutter receiver driving cylinder(not shown). Before the piston rod 274 of the knife driving air cylinder270 is driven in the downward direction and the piston rod 368 of theknife driving air cylinder 364 is driven in the upward direction, apiston rod 294 of a knife receiver driving air cylinder (not shown) islinearly driven in the forward direction, causing the fore end part ofthe knife receiver 286 to be inserted into a gap formed between thecarrier tape 134 and the cover tape 154 of the tape-shaped package 112by way of steps to be described later, in order to receive the thrustingforce of each of the cutter knives 284 and 374 therewith. Incidentally,the carrier tape 134 and the cover tape 154 are not still fused to eachother at this time.

A tape projecting cylinder 656 adapted to be actuated in the upwarddirection is disposed rightward of the carrier tape cutter 654 so as toenable the knife receiver 286 to be projected directly below the carriertape 134 by forcibly raising up the carrier tape 134 to the packagecutter 652 side in excess of the knife receiver 286.

When the tape-shaped package cutter 652 and the carrier tape cutter 654of the tape cutting unit 648 are actuated to cut the cover tape 154 andthe carrier tape 134, the reel driving shaft 114 is temporarilyimmovably held together with the reel 116. Subsequently, after thecarrier tape cutter 654 is actuated, the reel driving shaft 114 isrotationally driven again to wound the cover tape 154 around the reel116 by a predetermined length so as to allow a part of the cover tape154 to serve as a leader portion 122. Thereafter, the piston rod 294 ofthe cutter receiver driving cylinder is retracted in the rearwarddirection, causing the knife receiver 286 to be retracted inside of theupper casing 110. At this time, the carrier tape 134 held in thesuspended state in the downward direction due to its own dead weight israised up by expanding the piston rod 658 of the tape projectingcylinder 656 again, and subsequently, the knife receiver 286 isdisplaced in the forward direction to reach the position directly belowthe carrier tape 134. Thereafter, the tape-shaped package cutter 652 isactuated to cut the cover tape 154 and the carrier tape 134 at the sametime.

When the tape-shaped package cutter 652 is actuated, a cut piece of thecarrier tape 134 falls down away from the tape-shaped package 112. Todischarge the foregoing cut piece of the carrier tape 134 to apredetermined location on the lower casing 106 side, a cut tape piecedischarging chute 660 is disposed at the lower part of the upper casing110 adjacent to the tape cutting unit 648. It should be noted that thestructure of the tape cutting unit 648 should not be limited only to theaforementioned one but any other type of hitherto known structure may beemployed for the tape cutting unit 648.

In contrast with the second aspect of the present invention as mentionedabove, according to a third aspect of the present invention, thetape-shaped package cutter 652 serves as a cutter for cutting only thecover tape 154, and moreover, it can cut both the cover tape 154 and thecarrier tape 134 without any necessity for actuating the tape projectingcylinder 656. Specifically, when the tape cutting unit 648 is actuatedto cut both the cover tape 154 and the carrier tape 134, the knifereceiver 286 is inserted between the cover tape 154 and the carrier tape134, and while the foregoing state is maintained, the carrier tapecutter 654 is actuated to cut the carrier tape 134. Subsequently, afterthe reel driving shaft 114 is rotationally driven to wound the covertape 154 around the reel 116 by a predetermined length so as to allow apart of the cover tape 154 to serve as a leader portion 122, thetape-shaped package cutter 652 and the carrier tape cutter 654 aresuccessively actuated to cut the cover tape 154 with the tape-shapedpackage cutter 652, and moreover, cut the carrier tape 134 with thecarrier tape cutter 654.

A pair of cover tape sucking blocks 662 are firmly secured to uppercasing 110 while they are disposed along a conveyance path of thetape-shaped package 112 at the positions directly above the foregoingconveyance path in such a manner that one of them is located before thetape cutting unit 648 and the other one is located behind the same. Aplurality of suction holes 664 are formed through each of the cover tapesucking blocks 662 in order to bring the tape-shaped package 112 incontact with close contact with the lower surface of each cover tapesucking block 662 by the air suction force induced by the suction of airthrough the suction holes 664 while the tape-shaped package 112 slidablymoves along the lower surface of each cover tape sucking block 662, andthe respective suction holes 664 are communicated with a suction pump(not shown). Thus, as the suction pump is driven, the cover tape 154 isbrought in close contact with the lower surface of each cover tapesucking block 662, and the suction pump is continuously driven for aperiod of time that elapses from the time when the leader portion 122 isformed to the time when the cover tape 154 passes past a tape confirmingsensor 666 to be described later.

In this embodiment, the cover tape sucking blocks 662, the suction holes664 and the suction pump are used as cover tape sucking means. However,it of course is obvious that other type of structure applicable to thesecomponents rather than the aforementioned one may be employed for thesame purpose, provided that the cover tape 154 of the tape-shapedpackage 112 can reliably be brought in the sucked state when thetape-shaped package cutter 652 is actuated.

FIG. 31 schematically shows by way of plan view the structure of atape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit 130 for conducting thetape-shaped package 112 discharged from the pair of pinch rollers 126and 128 to the empty reel 116 fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114while seizing the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 therewith,FIG. 32 shows by way of front view the structure of a driving mechanismfor driving the tape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit 130, FIG.33 shows by way of sectional view the driving mechanism for driving thetape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit 130 taken along line33--33 in FIG. 32, and FIG. 34 shows by way of sectional view thedriving mechanism for driving the same taken along line 34--34 in FIG.32.

Specifically, the opposite ends of a slider guide rail 668 extending inthe direction in parallel with the line extending from the tape cuttingunit 648 to the reel driving shaft 114 are held between the tape cuttingunit 648 and the reel driving shaft 114 on the rear side of the uppercasing 110 with the aid of a bracket 670. A slider 324 inserted throughan opening portion 326 formed through the upper casing 110 in parallelwith the slider guide rail 668 and having the fore end part thereofprojected on the front side of the upper casing 110 is slidably engagedwith the slider guide rail 668. A clamp block 338 and a tape-shapedpackage guiding arm 330 are assembled with the slide 324 at the fore endpart of the latter.

The clamp block 338 is firmly secured to one end of a clamp turn shaft334 which rotatably extends through the slider 324 in the horizontaldirection at a right angle relative to the conveying direction of thetape-shaped package 112, and a receiving plate portion 672 facing to theupper surface of the clamp block 338 with a gap held therebetween isformed integral with the slider 324. In addition, a clamp lever 342 isfirmly connected to the other end of the clamp turn shaft 334, and atension coil spring 344 is bridged between the foremost end of the clamplever 342 and the foremost end of a bracket 674 disposed on the slider324. With this construction, a gap is formed between the clamp block 338and the receiving plate portion 672 by the resilient force of thetension coil spring 344 as represented by solid lines in FIG. 29 so thatthe tape-shaped package 112 passes through the gap formed between theclamp block 338 and the receiving plate portion 672.

To properly maintain the gap between the clamp block 338 and thereceiving plate portion 674 in such a manner as to allow it to assume anadequate magnitude, a lever stopper 676 is threadably attached to thebracket 674. In addition, to assure that a magnitude of the gap betweenthe clamp block 338 and the receiving plate portion 672 is reduced asrepresented by phantom lines in FIG. 29 by turning the clamp lever 342in the anticlockwise direction against the resilient force of thetension coil spring 344 with an operator's hand to assume the state asrepresented by phantom lines in FIG. 32, an air cylinder 350 is firmlyfitted to the bracket 674 to hold the fore end part of the tape-shapedpackage 112 between the clamp block 338 and the receiving plate portion672 in the clamped state.

Additionally, to detect whether or not the tape-shaped package 112 iscaused to pass through the gap between the clamp block 338 and thereceiving plate portion 672, a tape confirming sensor 666 is disposeddirectly above the receiving plate portion 672. When the tape confirmingsensor 666 detects the fore end part of the tape-shaped package 112, theair cylinder 350 is actuated, causing the fore end part of thetape-shaped package 112 to be firmly held between the clamp block 338and the receiving plate portion 672 in the clamped state.

On the other hand, the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 having atape-shaped package guide groove 332 formed thereon to slidably hold thetape-shaped package 112 on the upper surface thereof is firmly fittedonto an arm turn shaft 680 which rotatably extends through the slider324 in the horizontal direction at a right angle relative to thedirection of conveyance of the tape-shaped package 112. To retain thetape-shaped package 112 slidably moving along the tape-shaped packageguide groove 332 so as not to allow the tape-shaped package 112 to befloated up from the tape-shaped package guide groove 332, the base endpart of a leaf spring 358 is secured to the base end part of thetape-shaped package guiding arm 330 by tightening screws. In addition, aturn lever 682 is firmly fitted onto the arm turn shaft 680, and atension coil spring 686 is spanned between the foremost end of the turnlever 682 and a bracket 684 disposed on the slider 324. With thisconstruction, the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 is horizontallyoriented toward the reel driving shaft 114 by the resilient force of thetension coil spring 686 as represented by solid lines in FIG. 28,whereby the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 can correctly beconducted to one of tape insert slots 120 formed through a hub core 118of the reel 116.

To detect one of the tape insert slots 120 formed through the hub core118 of the reel 116, an insert slot detecting sensor 452 is disposed onthe lower surface of the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 at theforemost end of the latter. To this end, first, while the tape-shapedpackage guiding arm 330 is held at the package delivering position, theforemost end of the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 is located nearto the hub core 118 of the reel 116 while facing to the same.Subsequently, the reel 116 is rotationally driven together with the reeldriving shaft 114 at a low rotational speed. When the insert slotdetecting sensor 452 detects one of the tape insert slots 120 formedthrough the hub core 118 of the reel 116 while the foregoing rotatingstate is maintained, a detection signal is outputted from the insertslot detecting sensor 452 to a controlling unit (not shown) for a reeldriving stepping motor 430 to be described later. In response to thedetection signal outputted from the insert slot detecting sensor 452,the controlling unit controls the rotation of the reel driving shaft 114in such a manner that after the reel driving shaft 114 is rotated by apredetermined angle, the rotation of the reel driving shaft 114 isinterrupted, causing the tape-shaped package guide groove 322 of thetape-shaped package guiding arm 330 to be linearly aligned with one ofthe tape insert slots 120 formed through the hub core 118 of the reel116.

To assure that the foremost end of the tape-shaped package 112 isproperly received in the tape-shaped package guiding groove 332 of thetape-shaped package guide arm 330, a tape insert guiding air cylinder688 is disposed at the tape-shaped package receiving position so as toturnably tilt the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 as represented byphantom lines in FIG. 29. In addition, to assure that the tape-shapedpackage 112 is properly delivered between the upper surface of the clampblock 338 and the receiving plate portion 672 as the fore end part ofthe tape-shaped package 112 is fed in the forward direction, a tapeprojecting cylinder 656 is disposed at the position between the clampblock 338 located at the tape-shaped package receiving position and theknife receiver 286 of the tape cutting unit 648 so as to allow the foreend part of the tape-shaped package 112 to be temporarily raised up by apiston rod 658 of the tape projecting cylinder 656.

A pair of toothed pulleys 690 and 692 are rotatably disposed at theopposite ends of the slider guide rail 668 as seen in the longitudinaldirection of movement of the slider 340 so that an endless toothed belt694 is bridged between both the toothed pulleys 690 and 692 whileextending around them. The slider 324 is operatively connected to theendless toothed belt 694 via a connecting member 696, and a guide unitdriving stepping motor 698 mounted on the upper casing 110 isoperatively connected to one of the toothed pulleys 690 and 692, i.e.,the toothed pulley 690.

Thus, the slider 324 can be displaced along the slider guide rail 668 inthe rightward/leftward direction as seen in FIG. 32 via the endlesstoothed belt 694 by rotationally driving the guide unit driving steppingmotor 698. To assure that the slider 324 is stopped not only at thetape-shaped package receiving position but also at the tape-shapedpackage delivering position, a receiving switch 702 and a deliveringswitch 704 are disposed at predetermined positions as seen in thelongitudinal direction of movement of the slider 324 for the purpose ofinterrupting the rotation of the guiding unit driving stepping motor 698by detecting a plate-shaped dog 700 projected downward of the slider324. Specifically, when the dog 700 is detected by the receiving switch702, the rotation of the guiding unit driving stepping motor 698 isinterrupted, whereby the slider 324 is located at the tape-shapedpackage receiving position in the vicinity of the tape cutting unit 648.In addition, when the dog 700 is detected by the delivering switch 704,the rotation of the guiding unit driving stepping motor 698 isinterrupted, whereby the foremost end of the tape-shaped package guidearm 330 is received in the hollow space defined by the flange portions456 of the reel 116 so that it is located at the tape-shaped packagedelivering position facing to the outer periphery of the hub core 118 ofthe reel 116.

As the tape-shaped package 116 is increasingly wound around the reel116, the guiding unit driving motor 698 is gradually displaced from thetape-shaped package delivering position toward the package receivingposition in the rearward direction so that the distance between theforemost end of the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 and the outerperiphery of the tape-shaped package 112 wound around the reel 116 iskept substantially constant. To prevent any occurrence of a malfunctionthat the foremost end of the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330collides against the flange portions 465 of the reel 116 during thedisplacement of the tape-shaped package guiding arm 330 from thetape-shaped package receiving position to the tape-shaped packagedelivering position, a flange widening air cylinder 450 including aflange widening member 458 (see FIG. 28) is arranged in the upper casing110 at the position below the tape-shaped package foremost end guidingunit 130 so as to resiliently enlarge a distance between both the flangeportions 456 of the reel 116.

Specifically, when a rotational phase of the reel 116 fitted onto thereel driving shaft 114 is correctly indexed in order to assign theforemost end of the tape-shaped package 112 to one of the tape insertslots 120 formed through the hub core 114 of the reel 116, the flangewidening air cylinder 450 is actuated so as to allow the flange wideningmember 458 to be projected toward the reel 116 side, causing a distancebetween both the flange portions 456 to be enlarged by the wedge-shapedforemost end part of the flange widening member 458. Subsequently, whenthe guide unit driving stepping motor 698 is rotationally driven whilethe foregoing state is maintained, the fore end part of the tape-shapedpackage guide arm 330 is brought in the hollow space of the reel 116,and thereafter, the flange widening member 458 is retracted away fromthe reel 116 by actuating the flange widening air cylinder 450 again.While this state is maintained, a next rotational phase of the reel 115can be indexed.

FIG. 35 shows by way of sectional view the structure of a reelattaching/detaching unit 140 for the tape winding apparatus constructedin accordance with this embodiment of the present invention.

Specifically, a subframe 390 having a heavy thickness is immovablyarranged inside of the upper casing 110 while extending in parallel withthe upper casing 110. The right-hand end of a cylindrical driving shaftholder 394 is firmly fastened to the upper casing 110 while thecylindrical driving shaft holder 394 is located between the upper casing110 and the subframe 390, and the reel driving shaft 114 is rotatablysupported by a pair of bearings 398 while extending through the drivingshaft holder 394. A reel driving stepping motor 430 is operativelyconnected to the left-hand end of the reel driving shaft 114 via a joint706. As the reel driving motor 430 is rotationally driven, the reel 116fitted onto the reel driving shaft 114 is rotated. In addition, a disc708 having a number of radially extending cutouts formed along the outerperiphery thereof is firmly fitted onto the left-hand end part of thereel driving shaft 114, and a reel rotational position indexing sensor710 is fastened to the subframe 390 via a bracket 712 in order to indexthe rotational phase of the reel 116 relative to the reel driving shaft114 to a predetermined position by detecting a quantity of rotation ofthe disc 708.

In response to a detection signal outputted from the encoder 188, theinsert slot detecting sensor 452, the receiving switch 702, thedelivering switch 704, the reel rotational position indexing sensor 710or a cutout detecting sensor 714 to be described later, the controllingunit (not shown) can arbitrarily change the present rotational speed ofthe reel driving shaft 114 to another one in conformity with a commandissued therefrom. Basically, the controlling unit controls the rotationof the reel driving shaft 114 in such a manner that the reel drivingshaft 114 is rotated at a low rotational speed at the time of winding ofthe tape-shaped package 112 around the reel 116 as well as directlybefore completion of the winding operation, it is rotated at a highrotational speed for a period of time other than the aforementioned one,and the rotation of the reel driving shaft 114 is interrupted when thereel 116 is exchanged with another one.

An engagement pawl 414 adapted to be engaged with one of engagementgrooves 412 formed along the reel hole 408 at the central part of thereel 116 is turnably disposed at the right-hand end part of the reeldriving shaft 114 to turn about a pin 716 in the radial direction (i.e.,in the upward/downward direction as seen in FIG. 35), and the fore endpart of the engagement pawl 414 is normally biased in the radialdirection (i.e., in the upward direction as seen in FIG. 35) by theresilient force of a compression coil spring 415 received in theright-hand end of the reel driving shaft 114. However, a largestquantity of turning movement of the engagement pawl 414 in the upwarddirection is restrictively limited by a stopper 718. With thisconstruction, when the engagement pawl 414 is not correctly aligned withthe engagement groove 412, the fore end part of the engagement pawl 414is forcibly retracted inside of the outer peripheral surface of the reeldriving shaft 114 but when the engagement pawl 414 is correctly alignedwith the engagement groove 412, the fore end part of the engagement pawlis turnably projected outside of the outer peripheral surface of thereel driving shaft 114 to come in engagement with the engagement groove412, whereby the reel 116 is followably rotated by the reel drivingshaft 114.

To detach the reel 116 having a tape-shaped package 112 woundtherearound away from the reel driving shaft 114, an annular thrustingplate 432 is disposed in the concentrical relationship relative to thereel driving shaft 114 in such a manner as to surround the lattertherewith, and a plurality of guide rods 436 are firmly secured to therear surface of the reel thrusting plate 432 while slidably extendingthrough a plurality of guide bushes 434 fitted to the upper casing 110.The left-hand ends of the guide rods 436 are fixed to an annularconnecting plate 438 disposed in such a manner as to surround thedriving shaft holder 394 with the annular connecting plate 438, and apiston rod 444 of a reel discharging air cylinder 442 fastened to thesubframe 390 via a bracket 440 is operatively connected to the annularconnecting plate 438.

With this construction, when the reel discharging air cylinder 442 isactuated so as to allow the piston rod 444 to be expanded, the reelthrusting plate 432 located at the retracted position as shown in FIG.35 is displaced in the forward direction to reach a position representedby phantom lines in the drawing, whereby the reel 116 fitted onto thereel driving shaft 114 is thrusted to a reel receiving/delivering shaft416 as the above-mentioned first embodiment which is located opposite tothe reel driving shaft 114.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 35 and FIG. 36 which shows by wayof front view the appearance of the reel 116, because of a necessity foradhering a label 650 to a label adhering portion 720 formed on one ofthe flange portions 456 of the reel 116 with the aid of a label adheringunit to be described later, a cutout portion detecting sensor 714 issecured to the upper casing 110 for the purpose of detecting a cutoutportion 722 formed on the outer periphery of one of the flange portions456 of the reel 116. When the cutout portion detecting sensor 714detects the cutout portion 722 formed on the flange portion 456 of thereel 116, a detecting signal is inputted into the controlling unit (notshown) for the reel driving stepping motor 430. In response to thedetecting signal outputted from the cutout portion detecting sensor 714,the controlling unit serves to rotate the reel driving shaft 114 by apredetermined angle, and thereafter, interrupt the rotation of the reeldriving shaft 114. Thus, when the reel 116 is conveyed to the labeladhering unit with the aid of the reel receiving/delivering unit 144while the foregoing state is maintained, a desired label adheringposition on the flange portion 456 of the reel 116 can exactly beindexed for a label 650 to adhere thereto.

It should be noted that the structure of the reel attaching/detachingunit 140 should not be limited only to the aforementioned oneconstructed in accordance with this embodiment buy any other type ofhitherto known structure may be employed for the reelattaching/detaching unit 140.

As shown in FIG. 28, an end seal feeding reel 464 is rotatably anddetachably disposed at the upper end of the upper casing 110 for an endseal feeding unit 138 which serves to adhesively connect an end seal 124to the terminal end of a leader portion 122, and a release liner 466having a plurality of ribbon-shaped end seals 124 adhesively attachedthereto in the equally spaced relationship is wound around the end sealfeeding reel 464. A release liner winding shaft 472 is rotatably fittedto the upper casing 110 at the position leftward of the end seal feedingreel 464 so that the used release liner 466 is wound around the releaseliner winding shaft 472.

To peel an end seal 124 away from the release liner 466 at the foremostend of the end seal 124, a wedge-shaped peeling plate 478 is firmlysecured to the upper casing 110 at the position located above thetape-shaped package guiding arm 330 disposed at the tape-shaped packagereceiving position of the tape-shaped package foremost end guiding unit130, and a pair of retaining rollers 480 and 482 are rotatably disposedon the upper casing 110 in such a manner that the first retaining roller480 is located above the wedge-shaped peeling plate 478 and the secondretaining roller 482 is located below the same. With such construction,as the release liner 466 is unwound from the end seal feeding reel 464,it is delivered to the release liner winding shaft 472 via the firstretaining roller 480, the wedge-shaped peeling plate 478 and the secondretaining roller 482. At this time, since the direction of conveyance ofthe release liner 466 is sharply changed at the foremost end of thewedge-shaped peeling plate 478, each end seal 124 is reliably peeledaway from the release liner 466, causing it to be projected forward ofthe foremost end of the wedge-shaped peeling plate 478.

A tape retaining roller 724 for depressively retaining the release liner466 and an end seal detecting sensor 492 located downstream of the taperetaining roller 724 for detecting whether an end seal 124 is adhesivelyattached to the release liner 466 or not are arranged between the endseal feeding reel 464 and the first retaining roller 480, and the taperetaining roller 724 is rotatably supported on the upper casing 110. Inaddition, a pair of pinch rollers 498 and 500 are arranged between thesecond retaining roller 482 and the release liner winding shaft 472 forholding the release liner 466 in the clamped state therebetween. One ofthe pair of pinch rollers 498 and 500, i.e., the driving pinch roller498 is operatively connected to a release liner driving motor 516adapted to be intermittently rotationally driven, and the idling pinchroller 500 is rotatably supported at the foremost end of a turn lever510 adapted to turn about a pivotal shaft 508 firmly fitted to the uppercasing 110. To normally bias the idling pinch roller 500 toward thedriving pinch roller 498, spring means (not shown) is disposed on thepivotal shaft 508 for the purpose of applying a certain intensity ofresilient force to the turn lever 510.

The release liner driving motor 516 is intermittently rotationallydriven every time a leader portion 122 is formed by actuating thetape-shaped package cutter 652 of the tape cutting unit 648.Specifically, the release liner driving motor 516 starts to be rotatedat a low rotational speed in synchronization with the rotation of thereel driving stepping motor 430 immediately after the cover tape 154 iscut by the tape-shaped package cutter 652, causing the release liner 466to be conveyed at the speed corresponding to the speed of conveyance ofthe leader portion 122. When the foremost end of the end seal 124 isadhesively connected to the rearmost end of the leader portion by theadhering power of the end seal 124, and subsequently, the used releaseliner 466 is wound around a release liner winding reel 474 by apredetermined length, the rotation of the release liner driving motor516 is interrupted.

As shown in FIG. 28, FIG. 37 and FIG. 38 that is a sectional view takenalong line 38--38 in FIG. 37, a bearing bush 536 for rotatablysupporting a tape retaining shaft 534 is fastened to the upper casing110 at the position above the reel driving shaft 114 by tighteningscrews, and a tape retaining roller 540 adapted to be brought in thehollow space between both the flanges 456 of the reel 16 is rotatablyheld at the foremost end of a turn lever 538 fitted onto the taperetaining shaft 534 which extends through the upper casing 110 and thebearing bush 536. The tape retainer roller 540 is caused to turn aboutthe tape retaining shaft 534 in the clockwise direction as seen in FIG.37 by its own dead weight, and as the tape-shaped package 112 is woundaround the reel 116, the tape retaining roller 540 serves to thrust thetape-shaped package 112 toward the outer periphery of the hub core 118in order to prevent each end seal 124 from incorrectly adhering to thetape-shaped package 112. A plurality of suction holes 726 are formed onthe surface of the turn lever 538 facing to the reel 116, i.e., thelower surface of the turn lever 538 for bringing the leader portion 122and the end seal 124 in close contact with the suction holes 726 by theair suction force so as to prevent them from being vibratively displacedtoward and away from the tape-shaped package 112 wound around the reel116, and a suction pump (not shown) is communicated with the respectivesuction holes 726 via a communication path 728. With this construction,when the suction pump is driven, the leader portion 122 and the end seal124 are wound around the reel 116 by allowing them to slidably movealong the lower surface of the turn lever 538 while they are brought inclose contact with the lower surface of the turn lever 538.

A retaining roller escape cylinder 544 is fastened to the inner wallsurface of the upper casing 110 by tightening screws while facing to anescape lever 542 firmly fitted onto the inner end of the tape retainingshaft 534. As a piston rod 546 of the retaining roller escape cylinder544 is expanded, the foremost end of the piston rod 546 collides againstthe escape lever 542. As a result, the turn lever 538 is turnablydisplaced away from the reel 116 together with the tape retaining roller540 via the escape lever 542 in the anticlockwise direction as seen inFIG. 28 with the tape retaining shaft 534 as a center. Now, the reel 116is ready to be attached to and detached from the reel driving shaft 114.

It should be noted that the structure of the end seal feeding unit 138should not be limited only to that described above in connection withthis embodiment but any other type of hitherto known structure may beemployed for the end seal feeding unit 138.

The sectional structure of the reel receiving/delivering unit 144 forfeeding an empty reel 116 to the reel driving shaft 114 and receivingthe reel 116 having a tape-shaped package 112 wound therearound from thereel driving shaft 114 is entirely same to that as described above withrespect to the preceding embodiment with reference to FIG. 23.

The label adhering unit as mentioned above is mounted on the upper endof the stocker housing 578. A label feeding reel 732 and a release linerwinding reel 734 are rotatably fitted to the front surface of a casing730 for the label adhering unit located substantially above therecovered reel storage station 576. A release liner 736 having aplurality of substantially rectangular labels 650 adhesively attachedthereto in the equally spaced relationship as seen in the longitudinaldirection of the release liner 736 is wound around the label feedingreel 732. In addition, a ribbon feeding reel 740 having an ink ribbon738 wound therearound and a ribbon winding reel 742 for winding a usedink ribbon 738 therearound are rotatably arranged directly below thelabel feeding reel 732, and moreover, a printing head 744 for printinginformations such as bar codes or the like on each label 650 is disposedbelow the ribbon feeding reel 740 and the ribbon winding reel 742.

A wedge-shaped peeling plate 746 for peeling each label 650 away fromthe release liner 736 is disposed directly below the printing head 744with a substantially horizontal attitude, and as the release liner 736is unwound from the label feeding reel 732, it is delivered to therelease liner winding reel 734 via the printing head 744 and the peelingplate 746. Since the direction of conveyance of the release liner 736 issharply changed at the peeling pate 746, each label 650 is reliablypeeled away from the release liner 736, and thereafter, it is projectedfrom the foremost end of the peeling plate 746 in the forward direction.During the conveyance of the release liner 736 in that way, necessaryinformations are printed on each label 650 by activating the printinghead 744.

A printing operation driving motor (not shown) adapted to beintermittently driven is disposed in the casing 730 for the labeladhering unit, and the release liner winding reel 734 and the ribbonwinding reel 742 are operatively connected to the printing operationdriving motor. The printing operation driving motor is intermittentlydriven every time the reel 116 having a tape-shaped package 112 woundtherearound is delivered to the recovered reel storage station 576,whereby the label 650 having predetermined necessary informationsprinted thereon is projected from the foremost end of the peeling plate746 in the forward direction.

A label adhering air cylinder 748 is disposed on the casing 730 of thelabel adhering unit in such a manner that it is located opposite to thelabel adhering portion 720 on the reel 116 on the recovered reelconveyance table 624 arranged at the recovered reel storage station 576,and a label suction pad 752 for holding the label 650 projected from theforemost end of the peeling plate 746 by the air suction force isattached to the foremost end of a piston rod 750 of the label adheringair cylinder 748. The piston rod 750 of the label adhering air cylinder748 is reciprocably displaced between the peeling plate 746 and thelabel adhering portion 720 on the reel 116 placed on the recovered reelconveying table 624 of the recovered reel storage station 576 in theupward/downward direction so that each label 650 having predetermineddesired informations printed thereon is caused to adhere to the labeladhering portion 720 on the reel 116.

While the tape-shaped package 112 is wound around the reel 116 byactuating the tape winding unit, the label suction pad 752 is held inthe standby position sideward of the peeling plate 746. Before the reel116 on the recovered reel conveying table 624 is conveyed to therecovered reel storage station 576 by actuating the rodless cylinder628, the printing operation driving motor is intermittently driven, andafter necessary bar code informations are printed on a predeterminedlocation on one of the labels 650 adhesively attached to the releaseliner 736 in the equally spaced relationship by activating the printinghead 744, the printing operation driving motor is intermittently drivenso as to allow the label 650 having bar code informations printedthereon to be peeled away from the peeling plate 746.

The label 650 peeled away from the release liner 736 is sucked to thelabel suction pad 752 held in the standby position. When the reel 116 isconveyed to the recovered reel storage station 576, the piston rod 750of the label adhering air cylinder 748 is expanded from the standbyposition in the downward direction, causing the label 650 to be thrustedagainst the label adhering portion 720 formed on one of the flangeportions 456 of the reel 116 placed on the recovered reel conveyancetable 624. Subsequently, when a suction operation performed by the labelsuction pad 752 is stopped and the piston rod 750 of the label adheringair cylinder 748 is then restored to the original standby position, theadhesion of each label 650 to the label adhering portion 720 on the reel116 is completed.

Thereafter, the reel retainer 640 is projected between the standbyposition of the reel receiving/delivering unit 144 and the recoveredreel storage station 576, and subsequently, the recovered reelconveyance table 624 is returned to the reel receiving/delivering unit144.

While the present invention has been described above with respect to twopreferred embodiments thereof, it should of course be understood thatthe present invention should not be limited only to these embodimentsbut various change or modification may be made without any departureaway from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tape winding apparatus for winding atape-shaped package around a reel, said tape-shaped package includingcarrier tape having a plurality of pocket portions for receiving objectstherein, adjacent pairs of the pocket portions being equally spaced in alongitudinal direction of said tape-shaped package, and cover tapecovering said pocket portions, said tape winding apparatus comprising:acasing; a rotatable reel driving shaft for winding said tape-shapedpackage on the reel, said rotatable reel driving shaft being on saidcasing; a pair of pinch rollers on the casing, said pair of pinchrollers being spaced from the reel and delivering said tape-shapedpackage toward said reel; a tape-shaped package guide for guidingmovement of said tape-shaped package from the pair of pinch rollers tothe reel, said tape-shaped package guide being slidably mounted on thecasing and being capable of reciprocal movement between said pair ofpinch rollers and said reel, said tape-shaped package guide including apivotally connected guiding arm having a passage sized to allow movementof said tape-shaped package therein; guide moving means for moving saidtape-shaped package guide from a first position to a second position,from the second position to a third stop position located between thefirst and second positions, and from the third stop position to thefirst position, the first position being located sufficiently close tosaid pair of pinch rollers so that the tape-shaped package guidereceives a foremost end of the tape-shaped package delivered by the pairof pinch rollers, the second position being located sufficiently closeto a hub core of the reel so that the tape-shaped package guide deliversthe foremost end to the hub core of the reel to allow for attachment ofthe foremost end to the hub core of the reel, and the third stopposition being located between the first and second positions so thatthe tape-shaped package guide guides movement of a portion of saidtape-shaped package extending from said pair of pinch rollers to saidreel while the tape-shaped package is wound on the reel; and seizingmeans, disposed on said tape-shaped package guide, for seizing theforemost end of said tape-shaped package when the guide moving meansmoves the tape-shaped package guide from the first position to thesecond position.
 2. The tape winding apparatus of claim 1, wherein saidreel includes a hub core having at least one tape insert slot formedtherein, and wherein the apparatus further comprises tape insert slotdetecting means for detecting the tape insert slot, and means forcontrolling rotation of said reel driving shaft in response to adetection signal output from said tape insert slot detecting means sothat rotation of said reel is interrupted to align the foremost end ofthe tape-shaped package and the tape insert slot when the foremost endof the tape-shaped package is inserted in the tape insert slot.
 3. Thetape winding apparatus of claim 2, wherein the reel further includes apair of flanges portions, and wherein the apparatus further comprisesmeans for moving the tape insert slot detecting means between the pairof flange portions.
 4. The tape winding apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe guiding arm includes a leaf spring covering an upper surface of theguiding arm to retain the tape-shaped package in the passage.
 5. Thetape winding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tape-shaped package guideincludes a guide groove sized to allow movement of the tape-shapedpackage therein, and wherein the seizing means includes a pawl extendingtoward the guide groove and means for clamping the tape-shaped packagebetween the pawl and a surface of the guide groove.
 6. The tape windingapparatus of claim 5, wherein the clamping means includes means formoving the guide groove toward the pawl.
 7. A tape winding apparatus forwinding tape onto a reel, comprising:a casing; a first tape guide on thecasing; a take-up reel drive shaft on the casing, the take-up reel driveshaft being sufficiently spaced from the first tape guide so that atake-up reel mounted on the take-up reel drive shaft winds tape passingthrough the first tape guide; a second tape guide slideably mounted onthe casing so that the second tape guide is movable from a firstposition to a second position, from the second position to a third stopposition located between the first and second positions, and from thethird stop position to the first position, said second tape guideincluding a gripper adapted to releasably grip an end of the tape assaid second tape guide moves from said first position to said secondposition to thereby deliver and attach said end of said tape to thetake-up reel when the take-up reel is mounted on said take-up reel driveshaft, the first position being located sufficiently close to the firsttape guide so that the second tape guide receives the end of tape whenthe end of tape passes through the first tape guide, the second positionbeing located sufficiently close to a hub core of the take-up reel whenthe take-up reel is mounted on the take-up reel drive shaft so that thesecond tape guide delivers the end of tape to the hub core of thetake-up reel to allow for attachment of the end of tape to the hub coreof the take-up reel, and the third stop position being located betweenthe first and second positions when the take-up reel is mounted on thetake-up reel drive shaft so that the second tape guide guides movementof a portion of said tape extending from the first tape guide to thetake-up reel while said tape is being wound onto said take-up reel.
 8. Amethod for winding a tape onto a reel, comprising the steps of:feedingan end of a tape through a first tape guide; releasably gripping saidend of the tape with a second tape guide in a first position proximatesaid first tape guide, the second tape guide being slidable and thefirst position being sufficiently close to the first tape guide so thatthe second tape guide receives the end of tape fed by the first tapeguide; moving said second tape guide during said releasable grippingstep from the first position to a second position proximate a take-upreel, said second position being sufficiently close to a hub core of thetake-up reel so that the second tape guide delivers said end of the tapeto the hub core of the take-up reel to allow for attachment of the endof the tape to the hub core of the reel; and moving said second tapeguide from the second position to a third stop position between saidfirst and second positions, said third stop position being locatedbetween the first and second positions so that the second tape guideguides movement of a portion of said tape extending from the first tapeguide to the take-up reel while said tape is being wound onto saidtake-up reel.